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Date: 03/21/2026

Cargo and Freight Agents

Expedite and route movement of incoming and outgoing cargo and freight shipments in airline, train, and trucking terminals and shipping docks. Take orders from customers and arrange pickup of freight and cargo for delivery to loading platform. Prepare and examine bills of lading to determine shipping charges and tariffs.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Check import or export documentation to determine cargo contents and use tariff coding system to classify goods according to fee or tariff group.
    • Estimate freight or postal rates and record shipment costs and weights.
    • Install straps, braces, and padding to loads to prevent shifting or damage during shipment.
    • Enter shipping information into a computer by hand or by a hand-held scanner that reads bar codes on goods.
    • Maintain a supply of packing materials.
    • Inspect and count items received and check them against invoices or other documents, recording shortages and rejecting damaged goods.
    • Route received goods to first available flight or to appropriate storage areas or departments, using forklifts, hand trucks, or other equipment.
    • Track delivery progress of shipments.
    • Negotiate and arrange transport of goods with shipping or freight companies.
    • Retrieve stored items and trace lost shipments as necessary.
    • Contact vendors or claims adjustment departments to resolve shipment problems or contact service depots to arrange for repairs.
    • Advise clients on transportation and payment methods.
    • Arrange insurance coverage for goods.
    • Direct delivery trucks to shipping doors or designated marshaling areas and help load and unload goods safely.
    • Notify consignees, passengers, or customers of freight or baggage arrival and arrange for delivery.
    • Assemble containers and crates used to transport items, such as machines or vehicles.
    • Open cargo containers and unwrap contents, using steel cutters, crowbars, or other hand tools.
    • Direct delivery trucks to shipping doors or designated marshaling areas and help load and unload goods safely.
    • Attach address labels, identification codes, and shipping instructions to containers.
    • Prepare manifests showing numbers of airplane passengers and baggage, mail, and freight weights, transmitting data to destinations.
    • Determine method of shipment and prepare bills of lading, invoices, and other shipping documents.
    • Pack goods for shipping, using tools such as staplers, strapping machines, and hammers.
    • Inspect and count items received and check them against invoices or other documents, recording shortages and rejecting damaged goods.
    • Direct or participate in cargo loading to ensure completeness of load and even distribution of weight.
    • Coordinate and supervise activities of workers engaged in packing and shipping merchandise.
    • Negotiate and arrange transport of goods with shipping or freight companies.
    • Keep records of all goods shipped, received, and stored.
    • Direct or participate in cargo loading to ensure completeness of load and even distribution of weight.

    Skills

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    4
    Workplace Documents
    4
    Graphic Literacy
    4

    Abilities

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    Knowledge

    • 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.

    • Computers and Electronics

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

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • 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.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • 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.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • 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.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • 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.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    Career Video

    Additional videos and more information available on CareerOneStop

    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 47900/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 23.03/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 2,760
    • Yearly Projected Openings 290

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Conventional: People interested in this work like activities that include data, detail, and regular routines.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Attention to Detail
    • Dependability
    • Integrity

    Tools

    • Air conditioners
    • Aircraft pushback or tow tractors
    • Cargo trucks
    • Desktop computers
    • Forklifts
    • Ground power units for aircraft
    • Hammers
    • Hand trucks or accessories
    • Laser fax machine
    • Laser printers
    • Metal cutters
    • Pry bars
    • Radio frequency scanners
    • Staple guns
    • Two way radios
    • Wheel chocks
    • Wrapping machinery

    Technology

    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Internet browser software
    • Inventory management software
    • Mobile location based services software
    • Office suite software
    • Operating system software
    • Presentation software
    • Procurement software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Word processing software

    Tags

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