Customs broker vs freight forwarder

The differences between customs brokers and freight forwarders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a customs broker has an average salary of $58,184, which is higher than the $38,215 average annual salary of a freight forwarder.

The top three skills for a customs broker include data entry, customer service and customs regulations. The most important skills for a freight forwarder are supply chain, customer service, and booking.

Customs broker vs freight forwarder overview

	Customs Broker	Freight Forwarder
Yearly salary	$58,184	$38,215
Hourly rate	$27.97	$18.37
Growth rate	5%	-3%
Number of jobs	2,824	6,961
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	44	43
Years of experience	-	-

Customs broker vs freight forwarder salary

Customs brokers and freight forwarders have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Customs Broker	Freight Forwarder
Average salary	$58,184	$38,215
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $89,000	Between $27,000 And $54,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between customs broker and freight forwarder education

There are a few differences between a customs broker and a freight forwarder in terms of educational background:

	Customs Broker	Freight Forwarder
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	-

Customs broker vs freight forwarder demographics

Here are the differences between customs brokers' and freight forwarders' demographics:

	Customs Broker	Freight Forwarder
Average age	44	43
Gender ratio	Male, 51.0% Female, 49.0%	Male, 55.1% Female, 44.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 7.0% Hispanic or Latino, 23.6% Asian, 18.0% White, 44.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between customs broker and freight forwarder duties and responsibilities

Customs broker example responsibilities.

Call new and return customer leads for Medicare solutions.
Manage all office relate matters to include accounting, international traffic and logistics.
Work with procedures for FDA and understands all government regulations.
Handle all issues pertaining to FDA & USDA and all other CFR regulations for all customers.
Consult clients on the various types of documentations that are need for inspection and clear through CBP and OGA.
Handle entries with ADA/CVD and NAFTA.

Freight forwarder example responsibilities.

Maintain relationships with customs brokers and freight forwarders and assist in reviewing such service providers.
Book material RO/RO, LCL, and FCL loads on ocean line carrier for international delivery.
Maintain TSA clearance in order to ship freight on passenger airlines.
Use LogiSuite to create airway bills & TSA documents for cargo exports.
Communicate with U.S. Customs and FDA officials when necessary to expedite the exam process.
Negotiate rates and contracts with air freight agents as well as LTL and FTL base carriers

Customs broker vs freight forwarder skills

Common customs broker skills

Data Entry, 17%
Customer Service, 15%
Customs Regulations, 9%
US Customs, 6%
FDA, 5%
HTS, 4%

Common freight forwarder skills

Supply Chain, 23%
Customer Service, 18%
Booking, 14%
Import Export, 8%
Delivery Orders, 6%
AES, 6%