How To Become A Shipping Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a shipping specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The role of a shipping specialist is essential in ensuring that a company delivers all items on time and in good condition. They are responsible for monitoring tracking systems, ensuring compliance with shipping protocols, maintaining shipping document records, and recommending improvements to management. They usually work in transportation companies, but may also find job opportunities in vendors of varying sizes.

Another critical duty of a shipping specialist is looking out for non-conformance. This helps ensure that all personnel follows company policies, and all goods are up to quality standards before shipment.

A high school diploma or GED is the most common requirement for this role. Apart from that, employers look for at least one to three years of relevant experience in a similar position. However, applicants with no prior work experience can qualify by completing a relevant training program or certification.

On top of education and experience, an aspiring shipping specialist must be highly communicable, analytical, strategic, detail-oriented, and able to work with minimal supervision. A certain level of physical strength and endurance may also be required for this role.

ScoreShipping SpecialistUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,465

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.3

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.74%

Asian 7.40%

Black or African American 10.13%

Hispanic or Latino 19.49%

Unknown 4.21%

White 58.01%

Gender

female 32.33%

male 67.67%

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 shipping specialist

Explore shipping specialist education requirements

Most common shipping specialist degrees

Bachelor's

32.3 %

High School Diploma

29.9 %

Associate

25.1 %

Start to develop specific shipping specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Logistics	11.77%
Shipping Receiving	7.88%
Pallet Jack	7.11%
Data Entry	5.77%
Outbound Shipments	5.12%

Complete relevant shipping specialist training and internships

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

Research shipping specialist duties and responsibilities

Manage order fulfillment for small parcel, LTL, and freight forwarder shipments.
Complete documentation and manage inventory levels by utilizing ERP systems.
Manage incoming and outgoing shipping logistics for cargo transportation carriers and shipping companies.
Process orders including accurate checking, sorting and consolidating freight, wrapping pallets, loading and unloading shipments of customer orders.

Prepare your shipping specialist resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable shipping specialist resume templates

Build a professional shipping specialist 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 shipping specialist resume.