Supply Chain Certifications Compared
CSCP, CPIM, CLTD and CPSM side by side.
CLTD Certification
CLTD Certification: ASCM’s Logistics Credential, Exam And Cost
The APICS logistics certification: the nine topics, how the one exam works, what it costs and which logistics jobs cite it.
By the Supply Chain Degree Programs editorial team Updated
CLTD Certification: The Short Version
- CLTD is ASCM’s logistics certification. Nine topics, from logistics strategy to transportation, warehousing and reverse logistics.
- One exam: 150 questions in 3.5 hours. Scored from 200 to 350; 300 passes.
- The exam costs $1,100 for members. $1,530 for everyone else; the membership with the certification upgrade is $199 a year.
- No degree or experience is required. Anyone can buy an authorization to test.
- Five of this site’s career guides cite it. supply Chain Manager, logistician, warehouse Manager, transportation Manager and logistics Coordinator.
What The CLTD Certification Is
The CLTD, Certified in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution, is the ASCM certification for logistics: the movement and storage of goods between the supplier and the customer, and back again. It covers logistics specifically: logistics strategy, demand and capacity, customer and order management, warehouse and fulfillment center management, inventory, transportation, global logistics, reverse logistics and risk, and network design.
People whose work is the movement and storage of goods: transportation, warehousing and fulfillment, order management and logistics network design, where the make, deliver and return steps of the supply chain meet.
Of ASCM’s three certifications on this site, it is the one built on logistics, which makes it the usual answer to “which logistics certification?”
What The CLTD Certification Exam Covers: Nine Topics
ASCM lists the CLTD content under nine topics, all tested on the one exam:
- Logistics fundamentals and strategy
- Demand management and supply capacity management
- Customer and order management
- Warehouse distribution and fulfillment center management
- Inventory management
- Transportation management
- Global logistics
- Sustainability, reverse logistics and risk management
- Logistics framework, metrics, network design, transformation and improvement
The list runs from the logistics plan down to the flows themselves: strategy and capacity first, then orders, warehouses, inventory and transportation, then the global, reverse and network questions that tie them together. ASCM offers a free 30-day trial of one module of its learning system before you buy.
How The CLTD Exam Works
One exam of 150 questions (130 scored, 20 unscored pretest) in 3.5 hours, scored from 200 to 350, with 300 or more passing. It is taken at a Pearson VUE center or online. The content runs across nine modules.
ASCM membership is optional, though members pay less. You buy an authorization to test, which expires six months after purchase (12 months when bought in a bundle), and ASCM recommends about 100 hours of study per exam. A candidate who fails must wait 14 full days before retaking the same exam.
Who Can Take The CLTD Exam
None. ASCM sets no education or experience requirement; anyone can buy an authorization to test. That is ASCM’s own rule, set out in its exam handbook, so a student or someone new to logistics can sit the CLTD before holding a logistics job. ISM’s CPSM works the other way: it is awarded only after professional experience.
What The CLTD Certification Costs
ASCM lists the CLTD exam at $1,100 for members with its certification upgrade and $1,530 for everyone else. The membership with the upgrade is $199 a year, so a nonmember who joins first pays $1,299 in all, $231 less than the nonmember price.
- Learning system only: $1,100 for members, $1,530 for nonmembers.
- Bundle (learning system, exam voucher and a second-chance exam): $1,980 for members, $2,760 for nonmembers.
Keeping A CLTD Certification Current
Stays valid while you earn 75 professional development points every five years. Holders aged 62 or older can convert a current certification to a lifetime designation, which ends the five-year maintenance cycle.
Logistics Jobs That Cite The CLTD Certification
This site’s career guides name the CLTD for five jobs. BLS reports pay by occupation, and some of these jobs are counted inside a wider one, so each figure names the occupation it describes:
- Supply Chain Manager: $107,230, the median for transportation, storage and distribution managers (May 2025)
- Logistician: $82,320, the median for logisticians (May 2025)
- Warehouse Manager: $107,230, the median for transportation, storage and distribution managers (May 2025)
- Transportation Manager: $107,230, the median for transportation, storage and distribution managers (May 2025)
- Logistics Coordinator: $52,260, the median for cargo and freight agents (May 2025)
The medians describe the occupation, not what a CLTD adds to it.
CLTD And The Other Logistics Credentials
- CSCP: ASCM’s end-to-end exam; forward and Reverse Logistics is one of its eight modules.
- CPSM: ISM’s credential for the buying side of the chain, after professional experience.
- Customs broker license: a federal license to clear goods through customs, earned by exam, not a certification.
The APICS guide covers what became of the APICS name, and the four-way comparison sets all four certifications side by side.
CLTD Certification Or CSCP
Both are ASCM exams in the same format, kept current the same way. The difference is scope: the CLTD spends all nine of its topics on logistics, while the CSCP covers the whole supply chain and gives logistics one module of eight. CSCP costs more: $1,450 for members against $1,100. Someone whose work is warehouses, freight and distribution is in CLTD territory; someone whose job spans sourcing, planning and delivery is in CSCP’s.
A CLTD Certification Or A Logistics Degree
The two answer different questions. A CLTD certifies one body of knowledge in one exam; a degree spans a business school curriculum and takes years. ASCM requires no degree for the CLTD, and passing it doesn’t stand in for one. If you are weighing a degree, the logistics degree ranking lists bachelor’s and master’s programs named for logistics, and the certificate ranking covers shorter graduate programs.
FAQ
What Does CLTD Stand For?
Certified in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution. It is awarded by the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), whose testing rules are still published as the APICS Exam Handbook, which is why it is often called the APICS CLTD.
How Much Does The CLTD Exam Cost?
ASCM lists the exam at $1,100 for members with its certification upgrade and $1,530 for everyone else. The membership with the upgrade is $199 a year, so joining first comes to $1,299. The bundle with the learning system and a second-chance exam is $1,980 for members.
Do You Need Experience For The CLTD?
No. ASCM sets no education or experience requirement; anyone can buy an authorization to test.
How Long Does It Take To Earn The CLTD?
ASCM recommends about 100 hours of study for the exam, and an authorization to test is good for 6 months from purchase (12 when bought in a bundle). The credential is awarded on passing one exam.
Is The CLTD Worth It?
It certifies logistics knowledge in one exam, for $1,100 to $1,530. The jobs that cite it are logistics jobs, and BLS reports pay by occupation, so the pay figures on this page describe those jobs rather than the credential.
Keep Reading
CSCP Certification
ASCM’s end-to-end credential, with logistics as one module of eight.
How To Become A Logistician
The logistics job the CLTD maps to most directly.
The Best Logistics Degrees
Bachelor’s and master’s programs named for logistics, ranked.
Sources
- 1 ASCM, CLTD (Certified in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution): topics, exam format and purchase options Read .
- 2 ASCM, CSCP (Certified Supply Chain Professional) Read .
- 3 ASCM, certification exam details and process Read .
- 4 ASCM, certification and credential FAQs Read .
- 5 ASCM, APICS Exam Handbook and Testing Policies Read .
- 6 BLS OEWS, May 2025: Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers (SOC 11-3071) Read .
- 7 BLS OEWS, May 2025: Logisticians (SOC 13-1081) Read .
- 8 BLS OEWS, May 2025: Cargo and Freight Agents (SOC 43-5011) Read .