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Role hub · Freight Forwarders

Freight Forwarder: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

BLS does not publish pay for freight forwarders separately. Every pay figure on this page is for the BLS occupation “Cargo and Freight Agents” (SOC 43-5011), which includes freight forwarders and other jobs; it is not a figure for freight forwarders alone.

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Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of workers in the BLS occupation “Cargo and Freight Agents” earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$52,260
Hourly
$25.13
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Freight Forwarders research rates, routings, or modes of transport for shipment of products. The median pay is $52,260 a year ($25.13 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (44% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$52,260
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
97,670
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 1-2 of 5
very little to some preparation
Most common education
Bachelor's Degree
44% of workers
Key facts

Freight Forwarders at a glance

  • Workers in the BLS occupation “Cargo and Freight Agents” (which includes freight forwarders) in the United States earned a median annual wage of $52,260 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for freight forwarders in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of freight forwarders in the United States to grow 6.2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,000 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimates that 25.3% of cargo and freight agents in the United States had the ability to telework in 2025, a preliminary estimate of whether the job allows it, not a count of remote jobs.

    Source: BLS Occupational Requirements Survey, 2025 preliminary

Explore the role

Every page for Freight Forwarders

How to becomeFreight Forwarder how to become

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The work

What freight forwarders do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Negotiate shipping rates with freight carriers.
  2. Arrange for special transport of sensitive cargoes, such as livestock, food, or medical supplies.
  3. Arrange for applicable duties, taxes, or paperwork for customs clearance.
  4. Inform clients of factors such as shipping options, timelines, transfers, or regulations affecting shipments.
  5. Prepare shipping documentation, such as bills of lading, packing lists, dock receipts, or certificates of origin.
  6. Complete customs paperwork.
  7. Prepare invoices or cost quotations for freight transportation.
  8. Select shipment routes, based on nature of goods shipped, transit times, or security needs.
Job requirements

What the job requires

Data BLS figures for cargo and freight agents (SOC 43-5011), 2025 preliminary BLS Occupational Requirements Survey. This TryHired page covers a specialty within that occupation; the figures describe the whole occupation.

Telework available
25.3%
of workers had the ability to telework
Workday sitting
82.7%
mean share of the day required to sit
Most common strength level
Sedentary
82.9% of workers
Can pause work
73.3%
of workers could take short, unscheduled breaks
Self-paced workload
less than 10%
of workers set their own workload
Employer-changed schedules
34.3%
of workers had schedules changed by the employer week to week

On TryHired lists: Remote careers · Desk jobs.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey. Estimates are preliminary; ranges are shown as published.

Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all freight forwarder jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix). Figures cover all cargo and freight agents (SOC 43-5011), the broader occupation.

  1. Support activities for transportation64.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.6% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $56,250
  2. Couriers and messengers9.3% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.2% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $58,590
  3. Air transportation9.0% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $56,380
  4. Truck transportation4.9% of all jobs in this occupation · +2.5% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $61,270
  5. Professional, scientific, and technical services3.3% of all jobs in this occupation · +16.2% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $54,850
  6. Management of companies and enterprises2.2% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.6% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $59,390

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

CoordinationcoreReading ComprehensioncoreMonitoringcoreActive ListeningCritical ThinkingSocial PerceptivenessNegotiationService OrientationTime Management

Knowledge areas: Transportation, Administrative, Customer and Personal Service, Administration and Management, English Language, Computers and Electronics.

Tools and technology

Software freight forwarders use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Arcline ArcFreightMaterials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
  • CEDAS GatewayMaterials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
  • CargoWise ediEnterpriseMaterials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
  • IES EcellerateCompliance software
  • Kewill Global Trade and LogisticsMaterials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
  • Order management softwareProcurement software
  • Package tracking softwareIndustrial control software
  • QuestaWeb TradeMaster QWCompliance software
  • RedBerry LogisticsMaterials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
  • Riege Software International ProcarsMaterials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
  • Star Tec Software Hercules ExportMaterials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
  • TMW Enterprise Transportation Management SystemsMaterials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software

Also called: Air Export Agent, Air Export Coordinator, Export Coordinator, GSA Coordinator (General Services Administration Coordinator), Import Agent.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.