Careers / Freight Forwarders

Freight Forwarders — Career Decision Dashboard

United States

Opens your browser print dialog — choose “Save as PDF”.

Median annual wage

$52,260

United States, 2025

Employment

97,670

United States, 2025

Typical education

Bachelor's Degree

Job Zone 2

Skills identified

35

10 related careers

Career overview

Research rates, routings, or modes of transport for shipment of products. Maintain awareness of regulations affecting the international movement of cargo. Make arrangements for additional services, such as storage or inland transportation.

O*NET code
43-5011.01
Job zone
2
Experience required
Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years

Typical tasks

  • Negotiate shipping rates with freight carriers.
  • Arrange for special transport of sensitive cargoes, such as livestock, food, or medical supplies.
  • Arrange for applicable duties, taxes, or paperwork for customs clearance.
  • Inform clients of factors such as shipping options, timelines, transfers, or regulations affecting shipments.
  • Prepare shipping documentation, such as bills of lading, packing lists, dock receipts, or certificates of origin.
  • Prepare invoices or cost quotations for freight transportation.
  • Select shipment routes, based on nature of goods shipped, transit times, or security needs.
  • Calculate weight, volume, or cost of goods to be moved.

Choose a location

Salary analysis — United States

$38,340
10th
$45,710
25th
$52,260
Median
$63,390
75th
$79,810
90th

10th percentile

$38,340

25th percentile

$45,710

75th percentile

$63,390

90th percentile

$79,810

Most important skills

  • Coordination3.8
  • Reading Comprehension3.8
  • Monitoring3.5
  • Critical Thinking3.4
  • Active Listening3.4
  • Service Orientation3.3
  • Time Management3.3
  • Negotiation3.3
  • Writing3.3
  • Speaking3.3
  • Social Perceptiveness3.3
  • Active Learning3.1

What skills do you need?

Select the skills you already have

Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.

Skill coverage

0%

0 of 18 identified skills

Matched

0

Missing

18

Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.

Skills to develop

SkillImportanceRequired levelYour levelGap
Coordination3.83.4Not selected3.4
Reading Comprehension3.83.3Not selected3.3
Critical Thinking3.43.4Not selected3.4
Active Listening3.43.4Not selected3.4
Negotiation3.33.4Not selected3.4
Monitoring3.53.1Not selected3.1
Speaking3.33.3Not selected3.3
Social Perceptiveness3.33.3Not selected3.3
Service Orientation3.33.1Not selected3.1
Time Management3.33.1Not selected3.1
Writing3.33.1Not selected3.1
Persuasion3.13.3Not selected3.3
Active Learning3.13.1Not selected3.1
Complex Problem Solving3.13.1Not selected3.1
Systems Analysis3.03.1Not selected3.1
Mathematics3.03.1Not selected3.1
Systems Evaluation3.03.0Not selected3.0
Judgment and Decision Making3.03.0Not selected3.0

Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.

Related careers

How salary varies by location

LocationMedianEmploymentYear
DC$76,250602025
Lake Charles, LA$68,080302025
NH$67,660802025
Tulsa, OK$67,1401302025
Rapid City, SD$65,440302025
Trenton, NJ$65,320402025
Davenport, IA$64,580602025
SD$64,3402002025
New Haven, CT$63,380802025
Missoula, MT$63,010602025
Albuquerque, NM$63,010602025
Sioux Falls, SD$62,9501002025
Hartford, CT$62,8302202025
NE$62,5003902025
Omaha, NE$62,2402902025
Syracuse, NY$62,1001202025
Seattle, WA$61,8601,9402025
Vallejo, CA$61,560502025
San Francisco, CA$60,9801,9602025
Great Falls, MT$60,810502025
All locations with published data

Career transition paths

Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Freight Forwarders to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.

Build a transition comparison

Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0.

Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).

Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.