How To Become A Dock Associate: What It Is and Career Path

What is a dock associate 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 dock associate. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.93 an hour? That's $33,136 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 358,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreDock AssociateUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,136

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.08%

Asian 5.36%

Black or African American 14.53%

Hispanic or Latino 19.38%

Unknown 5.19%

White 54.47%

Gender

female 17.24%

male 82.76%

Age - 39

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 - 39

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.7

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a dock associate

Explore dock associate education requirements

Most common dock associate degrees

High School Diploma

38.4 %

Bachelor's

27.8 %

Associate

20.5 %

Start to develop specific dock associate skills

Skills	Percentages
Pallets	18.65%
Electric Pallet Jack	16.14%
Safety Procedures	13.59%
Sales Floor	8.28%
Load Trucks	8.17%

Complete relevant dock associate training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New dock associates 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 dock associate based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real dock associate resumes.

Research dock associate duties and responsibilities

Operate yard truck to manage dock needs, maintain safety and cleanliness of dock as well as yard.
Load orders into trailers for shipment; coordinate cross-dock operations and load consolidations.
Mow lawn, run errands, advise customers, and assist in loading and unloading the boats.

Prepare your dock associate resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable dock associate resume templates

Build a professional dock associate 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 dock associate resume.