How To Become A Freight Clerk: What It Is and Career Path

What is a freight clerk 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 freight clerk. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.43 an hour? That's $32,094 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -3% and produce -38,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreFreight ClerkUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $32,094

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.3

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.75%

Asian 7.55%

Black or African American 9.08%

Hispanic or Latino 20.41%

Unknown 4.24%

White 57.97%

Gender

female 45.83%

male 54.17%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

6.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a freight clerk

Explore freight clerk education requirements

Most common freight clerk degrees

High School Diploma

40.9 %

Associate

26.4 %

Bachelor's

18.9 %

Start to develop specific freight clerk skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Entry	39.38%
LTL	13.94%
Computer System	13.43%
Office Equipment	8.10%
Purchase Orders	3.06%

Complete relevant freight clerk training and internships

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

Research freight clerk duties and responsibilities

Assist in the daily managing of fresh product using the FIFO accounting principal.
Answer emails and telephone inquires regarding rates, routing, packing procedures, and LTL transportation procedures.
Utilize industrial logistics and strong interpersonal communication skills to develop new business, increase current business, and renew existing contracts.
Coordinate with freight forwarders expediting international shipments.

Prepare your freight clerk resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable freight clerk resume templates

Build a professional freight clerk 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 freight clerk resume.