Certified forklift driver vs fork truck operator

The differences between certified forklift drivers and fork truck operators 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 fork truck operator. Additionally, a certified forklift driver has an average salary of $32,915, which is higher than the $32,272 average annual salary of a fork truck operator.

The top three skills for a certified forklift driver include pallets, safety procedures and pallet jack. The most important skills for a fork truck operator are pallets, safety procedures, and load trucks.

Certified forklift driver vs fork truck operator overview

	Certified Forklift Driver	Fork Truck Operator
Yearly salary	$32,915	$32,272
Hourly rate	$15.82	$15.52
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	115,640	117,624
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 55%	High School Diploma, 51%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	4	4

Certified forklift driver vs fork truck operator salary

Certified forklift drivers and fork truck operators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Certified Forklift Driver	Fork Truck Operator
Average salary	$32,915	$32,272
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $40,000	Between $26,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	-	Grand Forks, ND
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	Seneca Foods
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between certified forklift driver and fork truck operator education

There are a few differences between a certified forklift driver and a fork truck operator in terms of educational background:

	Certified Forklift Driver	Fork Truck Operator
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 55%	High School Diploma, 51%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Certified forklift driver vs fork truck operator demographics

Here are the differences between certified forklift drivers' and fork truck operators' demographics:

	Certified Forklift Driver	Fork Truck Operator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 88.6% Female, 11.4%	Male, 87.1% Female, 12.9%
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, 12.8% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.7% Asian, 1.9% White, 66.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	4%	4%

Differences between certified forklift driver and fork truck operator 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

Fork truck operator example responsibilities.

Create and cataloge files for GMP library.
Perform specialized production line and quality control duties in a professional production environment specializing in plastic extrusion.
Perform specialized production line and quality control duties in a professional production environment specializing in plastic extrusion.

Certified forklift driver vs fork truck operator skills

Common certified forklift driver skills

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

Common fork truck operator skills

Pallets, 19%
Safety Procedures, 10%
Load Trucks, 7%
Load Trailers, 6%
Pallet Jack, 6%
Assembly Line, 5%

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Transportation Industry
Certified Forklift Driver
Certified Forklift Driver vs Fork Truck Operator

Updated January 8, 2025

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