Certified forklift driver vs driver/material handler

The differences between certified forklift drivers and driver/material handlers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a certified forklift driver and a driver/material handler. Additionally, a driver/material handler has an average salary of $36,219, which is higher than the $32,915 average annual salary of a certified forklift driver.

The top three skills for a certified forklift driver include pallets, safety procedures and pallet jack. The most important skills for a driver/material handler are CDL, customer orders, and inventory control.

Certified forklift driver vs driver/material handler overview

	Certified Forklift Driver	Driver/Material Handler
Yearly salary	$32,915	$36,219
Hourly rate	$15.82	$17.41
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	115,640	198,718
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 55%	High School Diploma, 53%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	4	4

Certified forklift driver vs driver/material handler salary

Certified forklift drivers and driver/material handlers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Certified Forklift Driver	Driver/Material Handler
Average salary	$32,915	$36,219
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $40,000	Between $28,000 And $45,000
Highest paying City	-	Santa Clara, CA
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	Merck
Best paying industry	-	Automotive

Differences between certified forklift driver and driver/material handler education

There are a few differences between a certified forklift driver and a driver/material handler in terms of educational background:

	Certified Forklift Driver	Driver/Material Handler
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 55%	High School Diploma, 53%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Certified forklift driver vs driver/material handler demographics

Here are the differences between certified forklift drivers' and driver/material handlers' demographics:

	Certified Forklift Driver	Driver/Material Handler
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 88.6% Female, 11.4%	Male, 89.4% Female, 10.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 16.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.6% Asian, 2.4% White, 56.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 15.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.4% Asian, 2.6% White, 59.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	4%	4%

Differences between certified forklift driver and driver/material handler duties and responsibilities

Certified forklift driver example 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

Driver/material handler example responsibilities.

Manage temporary staff doing warehouse work and train and test them in order to receive forklift certification per OSHA.
Load and unload LTL freight from inbound and outbound trailers.
Operate forklifts in transferring loading and unloading materials in LTL.
Pick and audit hazmat and international orders.
Handle emergency hazmat situations requiring quick decision making skills.
Stack and move pallets from different lines with different products documenting quantity and quality while participating in a team environment.

Certified forklift driver vs driver/material handler skills

Common certified forklift driver skills

Pallets, 16%
Safety Procedures, 15%
Pallet Jack, 13%
Production Lines, 12%
RF Scanner, 6%
Load Trucks, 6%

Common driver/material handler skills

CDL, 21%
Customer Orders, 11%
Inventory Control, 9%
Customer Service, 9%
Safety Rules, 7%
Pallets, 6%

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Certified Forklift Driver
Certified Forklift Driver vs Driver/Material Handler

Updated January 8, 2025

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