Film Career · Transportation
Transportation Assistant
Transportation · Teamsters
- Union
- Teamsters
- Day rate
- ~$450–$750/day
- Experience
- 1–4 yrs
What does a Transportation Assistant do?
The transportation assistant supports the senior members of the transportation department, handling the preparation and follow-through that keep the department moving.
On union productions the position falls under Teamsters, which sets the rates, hours, and conditions the role works within. Like every transportation role, the job is hired production by production, and repeat work comes from department heads who trust the name on the call sheet.
What does a Transportation Assistant make?
- This is an entry or assistant chair, toward the lower end of its department's range.
- Teamster transportation is paid hourly with heavy guaranteed overtime: drivers run an effective $450-$750 a day, and coordinators and captains far more.
- Steady work is roughly $70K-$300K+ a year across the department (Teamsters Local 399 in Los Angeles).
Film work is gig based, so crew are paid a day or weekly rate rather than a salary. These are realistic 2024-2025 ranges grounded in union rate cards and industry data; actual pay swings with budget tier, market, overtime, and reputation.
Sources & how we estimate pay
Union scale is the floor; the ranges above also reflect market day rates above scale. They are grounded in the following 2024–2025 sources:
Union rate cards & wage schedules
Official guild scale — the floor each craft is paid from.
- IATSE — 2024 Basic Agreement wage scales (PDF) ↗
- IATSE Local 600 (International Cinematographers Guild) — camera rate cards ↗
- DGA — minimum salary rate cards (director, unit production manager, assistant directors) ↗
- WGA — schedule of minimums (writers) ↗
- SAG-AFTRA — theatrical & background rate sheets (cast, stunts, background) ↗
- Teamsters Local 399 — basic feature wage rates, 2024–27 (transportation, locations, wranglers) (PDF) ↗
You’ll like and be good at this job if:
Hard skills
- You can drive well and manage transport logistics
Soft skills
- You have the energy for long days and a good attitude under pressure
- You anticipate what the crew needs and stay a step ahead
Career progression
The role advances the way most transportation careers do: repeat hires from the same department heads, growing responsibility within the craft, and a reputation that travels between productions faster than any resume.
How do you become a Transportation Assistant?
This is a chair you can target directly: productions staff it from applicants with related skills and from people already working nearby on the crew. Get onto sets in any capacity, tell the department what you want, and be ready when a slot opens.
On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by Teamsters contracts.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.
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