Freight forwarder vs dispatcher

The differences between freight forwarders and dispatchers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a freight forwarder has an average salary of $38,215, which is higher than the $35,328 average annual salary of a dispatcher.

The top three skills for a freight forwarder include supply chain, customer service and booking. The most important skills for a dispatcher are customer service, data entry, and computer aided dispatch.

Freight forwarder vs dispatcher overview

	Freight Forwarder	Dispatcher
Yearly salary	$38,215	$35,328
Hourly rate	$18.37	$16.98
Growth rate	-3%	4%
Number of jobs	6,961	5,818
Job satisfaction	5	4.25
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	High School Diploma, 33%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	-	2

Freight forwarder vs dispatcher salary

Freight forwarders and dispatchers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Freight Forwarder	Dispatcher
Average salary	$38,215	$35,328
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $54,000	Between $27,000 And $44,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	Mt. San Antonio College
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between freight forwarder and dispatcher education

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

	Freight Forwarder	Dispatcher
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	High School Diploma, 33%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Freight forwarder vs dispatcher demographics

Here are the differences between freight forwarders' and dispatchers' demographics:

	Freight Forwarder	Dispatcher
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 55.1% Female, 44.9%	Male, 38.1% Female, 61.9%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 3.8% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	11%	7%

Differences between freight forwarder and dispatcher duties and responsibilities

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

Dispatcher example responsibilities.

Manage accounts payable (A/P) and accounts receivable (A/R) using QuickBooks.
Manage dot hrs for drivers as far as what tasks can be done in a certain amount of time.
Manage customer service satisfaction by providing update eta and location of drivers.
Dispatch police fire and ems.
Dispatch district security patrol officers to assist district employees, students and residents with emergency situations.
Earn CDL with passenger endorsement.

Freight forwarder vs dispatcher skills

Common freight forwarder skills

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

Common dispatcher skills

Customer Service, 34%
Data Entry, 8%
Computer Aided Dispatch, 4%
Non-Emergency Calls, 4%
Emergency Situations, 3%
EMS, 3%