what is the transportation sector 
the transportation sector is a category of companies that provide services to move people or goods as well as transportation infrastructure technically transportation is a sub group of the industrials sector according to the global industry classification standard gics the transportation sector consists of several industries including air freight and logistics airlines marine road and rail and transportation infrastructure these industries are further broken down into the sub industries air freight and logistics airlines marine railroads trucking airport services highways and rail tracks and marine ports and services understanding the transportation sectorthe performance of companies in the transportation industry is highly sensitive to fluctuations in company earnings and the price of transportation services main factors affecting company earnings include fuel costs labor costs demand for services geopolitical events and government regulation many of these factors are interconnected for example if the u s government passes regulations that make it more difficult for people to earn their commercial drivers license this will reduce the supply of drivers driving up the cost of hiring drivers oil prices are a key factor for transportation as the commodity s price generally has an influence on transportation expenses gas and fuel prices that rise will increase costs for a trucking company eating into their profit and potentially reducing their stock price energy costs and the value of transportation stocks are certainly interrelated low energy costs may become a factor in boosting the share price of various transportation companies but the influence can also be reversed when demand for transportation services is high the impact will be reflected in quarterly reports of transportation companies this information may once disseminated may motivate energy traders to bid up prices for oil and similar commodities however if demand for commercial transportation falls this information could lead to a decline in oil prices as well investing in the transportation sectoryou can invest in companies that move people and products by buying shares of individual transportation companies or through sector specific mutual funds or exchange traded funds etfs that specialize in the transportation sector the transportation sector is one of the most broadly diversified with industrial companies representing airlines railroads truckers equipment and leasing stocks and logistics companies funds that track this sector will track a benchmark sector index like the djta the dow jones transportation average djta is a price weighted average of 20 transportation stocks traded in the united states the djta is in fact the oldest u s stock index first compiled in 1884 by charles dow co founder of dow jones company the index initially consisted of nine railroad companies a testament to their dominance of the u s transportation sector in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and two non railroad companies in addition to railroads the index now includes airlines trucking marine transportation delivery services and logistics companies additionally the s p transportation select industry index provides a secondary benchmark for the sector 