How To Become A Certified Forklift Driver: What It Is and Career Path

What is a certified forklift driver and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a certified forklift driver. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.82 an hour? That's $32,915 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 56,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCertified Forklift DriverUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $32,915

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.3

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.81%

Asian 2.38%

Black or African American 16.22%

Hispanic or Latino 19.65%

Unknown 4.34%

White 56.61%

Gender

female 11.43%

male 88.57%

Age - 44

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 - 44

Stress level

8.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a certified forklift driver

Explore certified forklift driver education requirements

Most common certified forklift driver degrees

High School Diploma

54.6 %

Associate

14.3 %

Bachelor's

13.9 %

Start to develop specific certified forklift driver skills

Skills	Percentages
Pallets	16.24%
Safety Procedures	15.02%
Pallet Jack	12.75%
Production Lines	11.64%
RF Scanner	6.11%

Complete relevant certified forklift driver training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New certified forklift drivers 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 certified forklift driver based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real certified forklift driver resumes.

Research certified forklift driver duties and responsibilities

Maintain a clean and safe work environment daily by removing empty pallets, wood, plastic and other unuse raw materials.
Unload trucks and repair damaged pallets repacked damage products
Handle emergency hazmat situations requiring quick decision making skills.
Move palletize inbound/outbound freight to assign locations using WMS system

Prepare your certified forklift driver resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your certified forklift driver 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 certified forklift driver resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable certified forklift driver resume templates

Build a professional certified forklift driver 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 certified forklift driver resume.