How To Become A Forklift-Picker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a forklift-picker 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 forklift-picker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.72 an hour? That's $32,704 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 56,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreForklift-PickerUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $32,704

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.3

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.88%

Asian 2.80%

Black or African American 14.34%

Hispanic or Latino 20.92%

Unknown 4.54%

White 56.51%

Gender

female 10.45%

male 89.55%

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 forklift-picker

Explore forklift-picker education requirements

Most common forklift-picker degrees

High School Diploma

65.3 %

Diploma

14.0 %

Associate

9.9 %

Start to develop specific forklift-picker skills

Skills	Percentages
Pallets	21.64%
Pallet Jack	16.65%
RF Scanner	9.64%
Load Trucks	7.56%
Shipping Receiving	7.48%

Complete relevant forklift-picker training and internships

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

Research forklift-picker duties and responsibilities

Operate forklift to organize and wrap complete pallets, also operate other machinery that handle completed pallets to load company trucks.
Maintain accurate and timely documentation as is required by organization and OSHA.
Shrink wrap pallet and then set pallet by the correct load door to be check for accuracy.
Certify cherry picker operator / pull orders and putaway

Prepare your forklift-picker resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable forklift-picker resume templates

Build a professional forklift-picker 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 forklift-picker resume.