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Freight Forwarder

Academic programs / Undergraduate degrees / Career opportunities / Freight Forwarder

Freight Forwarder

Explore employment trends, required job duties and skills for this career. ASU offers a variety of degrees that can help you prepare for and meet your career goals. Visit ASU's Career and Professional Development Services to learn how to develop your career plan.

Potential job titles in this career
Air Export Agent, Air Export Coordinator, Export Coordinator, Freight Forwarder, GSA Coordinator (General Services Administration Coordinator), Import Agent, Ocean Export Specialist, Relocation Coordinator, Route Specialist

* Additional schooling, certification, or degrees maybe be required for some of the potential careers that are listed.
What will I do?
  • Negotiate shipping rates with freight carriers.
  • Arrange for special transport of sensitive cargoes, such as livestock, food, or medical supplies.
  • Arrange for applicable duties, taxes, or paperwork for customs clearance.
  • Inform clients of factors such as shipping options, timelines, transfers, or regulations affecting shipments.
  • Prepare shipping documentation, such as bills of lading, packing lists, dock receipts, or certificates of origin.
  • Complete customs paperwork.
  • Prepare invoices or cost quotations for freight transportation.
  • Select shipment routes, based on nature of goods shipped, transit times, or security needs.
  • Calculate weight, volume, or cost of goods to be moved.
  • Arrange delivery or storage of goods at destinations.
  • In this career, it is important to know
    Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.

    Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
    It's useful to be good at
    Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

    Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

    Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

    Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

    Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

    Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

    Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

    Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

    Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.

    Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
    Employment trends
    Location Pay period 2025
    10% 25% Median% 75% 90%
    United States Hourly $18.43 $21.98 $25.13 $30.48 $38.37
    Yearly $38,340 $45,710 $52,260 $63,390 $79,810
    Arizona Hourly $17.76 $18.76 $23.98 $28.38 $33.66
    Yearly $36,950 $39,010 $49,880 $59,020 $70,010
    2025 Median%
    United States $25.13 Hourly $52,260 Yearly
    Arizona $23.98 Hourly $49,880 Yearly

    Employment (2024)
    100,600 employees
    Projected growth (2024 - 2034)
    Faster than average (8% to 10%)
    Projected job openings (2024 - 2034)
    8,800
    * Data obtained from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) under sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA).

    Program term definitions

    Accelerated programs allow students the opportunity to expedite the completion of their degree.

    Accelerated master's

    These programs allow students to accelerate their studies to earn a bachelor's plus a master's degree in as few as five years (for some programs).

    Each program has requirements students must meet to be eligible for consideration. Students typically receive approval to pursue the accelerated master's during the junior year of their bachelor's degree program. Interested students can learn about eligibility requirements and how to apply.

    Concurrent degrees allow students to pursue their own personal or professional interests, earn two distinct degrees and receive two diplomas. To add a concurrent degree to your existing degree, work with your academic advisor.

    Joint programs, or jointly conferred degrees, are offered by more than one college and provide opportunities for students to take advantage of the academic strengths of two academic units. Upon graduation, students are awarded one degree and one diploma conferred by two colleges.

    ASU adds new programs to Degree Search frequently. Come back often and look for the "New Programs" option.

    ASU Online offers programs in an entirely online format with multiple enrollment sessions throughout the year. See https://asuonline.asu.edu/ for more information.

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