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

What is a freight loader 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 loader. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.76 an hour? That's $32,777 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 358,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreFreight LoaderUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $32,777

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.07%

Asian 5.78%

Black or African American 14.38%

Hispanic or Latino 22.29%

Unknown 5.16%

White 51.33%

Gender

female 8.81%

male 91.19%

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 freight loader

Explore freight loader education requirements

Most common freight loader degrees

High School Diploma

54.0 %

Associate

16.8 %

Bachelor's

15.9 %

Start to develop specific freight loader skills

Skills	Percentages
Pallets	28.31%
Pallet Jack	23.16%
Load Freight	14.97%
Delivery Vehicle	7.92%
Customer Service	6.67%

Complete relevant freight loader training and internships

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

Research freight loader duties and responsibilities

Provide regular assistance to supervisors to assist in store profitability and cleanliness.
Unload, process, and properly secure any merchandise needing EAS tags from all incoming freight.

Prepare your freight loader resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your freight loader 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 loader 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 loader resume templates

Build a professional freight loader 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 loader resume.