Port & Logistics

Ports are places where goods and people arrive in or leave a country by sea. Logistics refers to the movement, management, and storage of goods or services. It involves ensuring that the right product reaches the right place, at the right price, in the right quantity, and at the right time. Logistics also encompasses the movement of people by road, rail, sea, and air, as well as the operation of postal and courier services.

There are over

jobs in this sector in Hull and East Yorkshire

This accounts for nearly

of jobs in the region

Did you know?

In 2023, the ports of Hull and Goole handled 9.07 million tonnes of cargo.
The Hull Container Terminal handles over 100,000 containers each year.
In Hull and East Yorkshire, in the port and logistics sector, the types of businesses with the greatest number of employees include those involved in freight transport by road (4,250 employee jobs); the operation of warehousing and storage facilities for land transport (2,500 employee jobs); passenger land transport, for example, bus companies (1,250 employee jobs); and postal activities (1,100 employee jobs).
Since 2015, the types of port and logistics sector employers in Hull and East Yorkshire with the biggest increase in the number of employees include the operation of warehousing and storage facilities for land transport (900 additional jobs); freight transport by road (750 additional jobs); postal activities (200 additional jobs); other passenger land transport, for example, school bus services (165 additional jobs); and passenger rail transport (150 additional jobs).

Source: Department for Transport, BRES (2024)

Will there be opportunities available?

The port and logistics sector is vitally important to the UK; it keeps goods moving in and out of the country, which is essential for businesses and the economy. Even with changes like Brexit, the UK remains a major trading nation, creating demand for workers. Online shopping continues to grow, meaning more jobs in warehouses, transport, and supply chain management. Technology and automation are creating new roles in the sector, as is the drive towards greener logistics and the reduction of carbon emissions.
Since 2015, the number of jobs in the port and logistics sector in Hull and East Yorkshire has grown by 18%, an increase of 2,015 jobs, making it the third-fastest growing sector by percentage, after the creative and digital, and construction sectors. It also has the second-highest post-Covid job growth, after the leisure and tourism sector, with a total of 3,145 additional jobs.
In 2024, in Hull and East Yorkshire, the demand for staff to work in the port and logistics sector remained high – warehouse operative was the fifteenth most advertised job by companies seeking to recruit staff, with 864 online job adverts; large goods vehicle driver was the twentieth most advertised job, with 599 online job adverts; and transport and distribution clerks was the twenty-second most advertised job, with 590 online job adverts.

Source: BRES (2024), Lightcast (2025)

Check out careers in the Port & Logistics sector in Career of the Week

Find out more

Videos

Careerometer

The Careerometer can be used to explore and compare key information about occupations, help you learn about different occupations and identify potential careers. It provides access to a selection of UK headline data relating to pay, weekly hours of work and future employment prospects for different occupations, as well as description of the occupation.

Use the boxes below to simply type in the title of the job you are interested in and the widget provides a series of options from which you can select the most relevant to you. You can then look up another two occupations and compare. You can also select ‘display the UK average’ and compare the information with the occupation you have selected.