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

What is a loading dock hand 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 loading dock hand. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.65 an hour? That's $30,478 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 358,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreLoading Dock HandUS Average

Salary

2.4

Avg. Salary $30,478

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.31%

Asian 5.72%

Black or African American 14.85%

Hispanic or Latino 19.91%

Unknown 5.62%

White 52.59%

Gender

female 18.37%

male 81.63%

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 loading dock hand

Explore loading dock hand education requirements

Most common loading dock hand degrees

High School Diploma

55.9 %

Associate

13.4 %

Diploma

11.0 %

Start to develop specific loading dock hand skills

Skills	Percentages
Pallet Jack	32.35%
Load Trailers	19.66%
Dishwashers	10.49%
RF	5.80%
Assembly Line	3.85%

Complete relevant loading dock hand training and internships

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

Research loading dock hand duties and responsibilities

Load orders into trailers for shipment; coordinate cross-dock operations and load consolidations.
Operate WMS shipping system efficiently and accurately.

Prepare your loading dock hand resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable loading dock hand resume templates

Build a professional loading dock hand 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 loading dock hand resume.