How To Become A Cargo Service Agent: What It Is and Career Path

What is a cargo service agent and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a cargo service agent. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.19 an hour? That's $33,669 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -4% and produce -105,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCargo Service AgentUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,669

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate -4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.84%

Asian 15.43%

Black or African American 7.73%

Hispanic or Latino 22.79%

Unknown 7.26%

White 45.95%

Gender

female 30.71%

male 69.29%

Age - 41.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41.5

Stress level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.0

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.5

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a cargo service agent

Explore cargo service agent education requirements

Most common cargo service agent degrees

Associate

32.9 %

Bachelor's

28.6 %

High School Diploma

22.9 %

Start to develop specific cargo service agent skills

Skills	Percentages
Pallets	26.08%
Airway Bills	19.82%
Air Cargo	12.13%
Quality Customer Service	9.88%
Data Entry	9.16%

Complete relevant cargo service agent training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New cargo service agents learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a cargo service agent based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real cargo service agent resumes.

Research cargo service agent duties and responsibilities

Manage and carry out specific program and regulatory activities such as enforcing hazmat and weight restrictions.
Monitor aircraft and FAA frequencies and ensure proper data is transmitted to internal and public information display screens and personnel.
Coordinate all aspects of air/ocean freight, abiding by export customs regulations and demonstrating knowledge in a team-orient, deadline-driven environment.
Verify Medicare beneficiary eligibility and assist pharmacists and doctors with prescription claims, billing, and payment options.

Prepare your cargo service agent resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your cargo service agent resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a cargo service agent resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable cargo service agent resume templates

Build a professional cargo service agent resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your cargo service agent resume.