Office and Administrative Support · Holland code CER

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.

Also called: Air Export Agent, Air Export Coordinator, Freight Forwarder, GSA Coordinator (General Services Administration Coordinator), Export Coordinator, Import Agent, Ocean Export Specialist, Relocation Coordinator.

O*NET 43-5011.01

At a glance

US median annual pay: $52,260; Middle half earn $45,710 to $63,390. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 44% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.
Recommend or arrange appropriate merchandise packing methods, according to climate, terrain, weight, nature of goods, or costs.
Refer exporters to experts in areas such as trade financing, international marketing, government export requirements, international banking, or marine insurance.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension3.8 / 5
Monitoring3.5 / 5
Active Listening3.4 / 5
Critical Thinking3.4 / 5
Writing3.3 / 5
Speaking3.3 / 5

Knowledge areas

Transportation4.8 / 5
Administrative4.6 / 5
Customer and Personal Service4.5 / 5
Administration and Management4.3 / 5
English Language4.3 / 5
Computers and Electronics4.0 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic42
Investigative26
Artistic0
Social14
Enterprising49
Conventional77

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

forwarding manager · DE Speditionskaufmann/Speditionskauffrau · FR chef de service affrètement
international forwarding operations coordinator · DE internationaler Logistikmanager/internationale Logistikmanagerin · FR coordonnateur d’opérations d’affrètement international/coordonnatrice d’opérations d’affrètement international
rail logistics coordinator · DE Logistikkoordinator Schienenverkehr/Logistikkoordinatorin Schienenverkehr · FR coordinateur logistique ferroviaire/coordinatrice logistique ferroviaire
freight transport dispatcher · DE Frachtdisponent/Frachtdisponentin · FR dispatcheur transport de marchandises/dispatcheuse transport de marchandises

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Importers and exporters (3542)6,500 employed
Transport and distribution clerks and assistants (4134)69,500 employed
Other drivers and transport operatives n.e.c. (8239)22,600 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Clerical support workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Clerical support workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€40,035
Austria	€38,296
Germany	€37,844
Netherlands	€35,854
Sweden	€33,483
Ireland	€32,144
Italy	€29,311
France	€25,943
Spain	€22,026
Portugal	€12,602
Poland	€10,250

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.41. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (43-5011).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test