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

What is a rail 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 rail loader. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.25 an hour? That's $33,806 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 358,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRail LoaderUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,806

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.1

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.53%

Asian 4.33%

Black or African American 9.96%

Hispanic or Latino 14.15%

Unknown 3.77%

White 66.26%

Gender

female 7.79%

male 92.21%

Age - 41

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 - 41

Stress level

8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a rail loader

Explore rail loader education requirements

Most common rail loader degrees

High School Diploma

61.1 %

Associate

16.1 %

Diploma

11.4 %

Start to develop specific rail loader skills

Skills	Percentages
Loaders	33.29%
Tie Downs	22.99%
Safety Equipment	12.84%
PPE	8.57%
Load Rail Cars	6.00%

Complete relevant rail loader training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New rail 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 rail loader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real rail loader resumes.

Research rail loader duties and responsibilities

Upload empty and PVC load hopper cars as they come into plant for inventory.
Load Hyundai vehicles on trains for shipment
Rail loader and unloader of Nissan automobiles.
Splash guards/ installing splash guards for Nissan and Infiniti

Prepare your rail loader resume

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

Build a professional rail 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 rail loader resume.