If you're a logistics manager, two things will stand out when you look at the results of LM's 2003 Salary Survey: you're making more, and you're doing more.

The majority of logistics professionals who responded to our annual survey—some 78 percent—said the number of job functions they perform has increased, yet they are seeing on average just 1 percent more in their paychecks than they did in 2002.

The average salary for LM readers rose to $78,600 in 2003, compared to $77,700 the year before. This 1-percent rise is the lowest we've seen in the past 10 years of the survey. While salaries have steadily increased during that time—often with erratic bursts such as the 10-point explosion seen in 1998 or the 7-percent rise noted in 2001—the previous low was a 2.2-percent nudge upward in 2002.

Don't get completely downhearted. The numbers in the Salary Survey reflect an average across nearly 500 participants, and within that number, the highs and lows offset each other to some extent.

But don't get your hopes up too much, either. This year, when it came to pay raises, there were a fair number of lows to offset the few highs. For those who did get a raise, just over one-third (34 percent) fell in the 0.1-percent to 3-percent range. Another 24 percent raked in an extra 3.1 percent to 5 percent. The next-largest segment of the survey population included those who didn't get anything—a notable 19 percent.

"Many companies have held back increases across the board," observes Alex Metz, president of Hunt Ltd., an executive search firm in Lyndhurst, N.J. "They're not picking on logistics people. They're just saying, 'no increases this year, period.'"

Metz also points out a trend that may already be familiar: "Companies are recognizing that they're getting more done with fewer people," he says. "They're working more and putting in more hours, but they're not getting the monetary rewards."

This, unfortunately, is likely to be reflected in future salary surveys, Metz says. "I don't see it getting better. There are a lot of good people outside who shouldn't have to be looking in," he explains. "The only up-tick we see is in the temporary job market. It seems to be doing rather well in the last couple of quarters. Historically that's been a good barometer because as people get hired on a temporary basis, many of them wind up with permanent offers. That's always led the parade, so to speak. It could be a good sign."

While we're waiting for those winds of financial change to blow through logistics, let's take a look at the current conditions.

The 1-percent average increase in salaries looks even smaller when you consider that not everyone's paycheck got chunkier. Of the categories included in the survey, the titles that ended up on the plus side compared to last year were vice president/general manager ($125,200 average salary, a 2-percent increase), warehouse manager ($55,200, up 2 percent), traffic manager ($55,700, up less than 1 percent), supply chain manager ($98,400, up 13 percent), assistant traffic manager ($52,100, up 1 percent), and purchasing manager ($64,900, up 9 percent). Reporting thinner pay packets were corporate/division managers ($103,000, down 5 percent), logistics managers ($72,200, down 2 percent), private fleet managers ($58,100, down 3 percent), and operations managers ($66,800, down 5 percent). (See Figure 1.)

As always, your office location influences how much you're making. New England, which last year reported an average salary of $68,600 (with a high of $120,000), leads the 2003 list with an average salary of $111,000 and a top paycheck of $290,000. The South Atlantic states took second with an average of $80,700, followed by the Middle Atlantic at $80,200. Other regions reported averages below $80,000, with the Mountain states trailing the pack at $60,400.

Over the years, the survey results have highlighted the fact that in addition to geography, employment in certain industries can have a noticeable impact on your paycheck. Through economic boom and bust, certain industries have consistently paid better than others. Their individual positions may change from year to year, but the usual group—retail, electronics, chemicals, non-durable wholesale, and food and beverage—are at the top of the chart again this time. (See Figure 3.)

When it comes to pay equity, women still lag behind male respondents, but they fared noticeably better this year than they have in the past. Last year they trailed the men in average salary by $21,500. This year they reduced that gap, averaging $63,100 to the men's $80,900, a difference of $17,800.

The gender gap is closing in other areas as well, with male and female respondents reporting almost negligible differences in their years of experience, the number of years in their current jobs, and the number of respondents holding a college degree. Women still have a way to go, however, before they'll be able to catch up with their male colleagues in respect to the number of subordinates they manage and the number who hold graduate degrees.

It may not be too long, though, before they do catch up. This year, there were more women logistics managers, vice president/general managers, and corporate/divisional managers among the respondents than there have been in past years. Still, logistics manager remains the most common title for women, with 25 percent claiming that position. Next in frequency are traffic manager (20 percent) and assistant traffic manager (16 percent).

When the Salary Survey results come in, they allow for the creation of a sort of composite logistics professional. The differences between the 2003 composite logistics manager and the 2002 model are very slight. He (allow us this liberty, since both the industry and the respondent pool remain predominantly male) is 46.3 years old, college-educated, and oversees a staff of 11.5 people. His 2002 counterpart was 46.1 years old with a college degree and a staff of 13.3.

As he did last year, he considers distribution and logistics to be his most important job functions. He has 18.6 years of industry experience, compared to 17.8 years in 2002. He's been in his current job for 6.8 years (6.2 in 2002), and has been with his company for 10.9 years (10.8 in 2002). It's worth noting that while the average logistics executive has spent a decade with the same company, 62 percent of respondents overall reported that they have been with their current employers for fewer than 5 years.

The average age of the logistics everyman may have risen slightly, but the average age for some titles, including supply chain managers, assistant traffic managers, and private fleet managers, have dropped by up to 6 years. In fact, 60 percent of all supply chain managers and 54 percent of all assistant TMs are under the age of 41, compared to just 32 percent and 34 percent, respectively, last year.

Whether young or old, logistics professionals control pretty big budgets. This year, 27 percent of respondents estimated they spent between $1 million and $6 million on transportation last year. Slightly more—28 percent—said they spent more than $20 million on transportation in 2003.

Peering into the Salary Survey microscope confirms once again that education matters when it comes to compensation. (See Figure 4.) This year, 67 percent of respondents have a college degree or higher—roughly the same as last year—but the number who hold MBAs is down slightly (13 percent, compared to 14 percent in 2002). The same is true for other graduate degrees (6 percent this year, compared to 8 percent last year). That drop is somewhat surprising as the survey results have shown year after year that an MBA or other graduate degree provides a significant boost to annual salaries.

Given that this industry lives or dies by performance, it's surprising that 40 percent of respondents noted that their salaries were not based on some sort of performance metric. The situation is different, however, for respondents with certain titles. More than half of the vice presidents/general managers in the survey, for example, said that between 10.1 percent and 30 percent of their salaries ride on their performance; exactly half of the corporate/division managers said that performance determines 5.1 percent to 20 percent of their compensation.

If there's one overriding message logistics managers can glean from this year's Salary Survey results, it's this: Times will continue to be tough for awhile, but it's important to keep the faith. The logistics function is critical to the success and profitability of most companies, and when the economy improves, logistics managers should be in a good position to benefit from that recovery.