Freight Forwarders
Research rates, routings, or modes of transport for shipment of products. Maintain awareness of regulations affecting the international movement of cargo. Make arrangements for additional services, such as storage or inland transportation.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Coordination
- Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Speaking
- Social Perceptiveness
Key knowledge
- Transportation
- Administrative
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- English Language
- Computers and Electronics
- Public Safety and Security
- Geography
What the work involves
- Select shipment routes, based on nature of goods shipped, transit times, or security needs.
- Determine efficient and cost-effective methods of moving goods from one location to another.
- Reserve necessary space on ships, aircraft, trains, or trucks.
- Arrange delivery or storage of goods at destinations.
- Arrange for special transport of sensitive cargoes, such as livestock, food, or medical supplies.
- Calculate weight, volume, or cost of goods to be moved.
- Prepare shipping documentation, such as bills of lading, packing lists, dock receipts, or certificates of origin.
- Consolidate loads with a common destination to reduce costs to individual shippers.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Enterprising, Realistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (43.7% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (31%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (38.5%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Freight Forwarders is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
- Projection education uses SOC 43-5011 (detailed_parent); it may describe a broader group.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 76% of occupations compared | 70% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 90% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 58% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 87% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 99% of occupations compared | 96% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 96% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 80% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 51% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0.48%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 29.89%
- Constant contact with others: 69.63%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0.43%
- Important: 15.21%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: 33.02%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 15.1%
- Limited freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: 17.81%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.43%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 3.87%
- Every day: 95.69%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 1.77%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 31.3%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0.48%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 35.42%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.43%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 14.78%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 0%
- Fairly serious: 33.05%
- Serious: 50.35%
- Very serious: 0.44%
- Extremely serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2024
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O*NET-SOC 43-5011.01 · SOC 43-5011 (detailed_parent, medium confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8