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Career Path

How to Become a Laborers and Freight Mover

The education, skills, and entry path to becoming a laborers and freight mover, the salary to expect, and the part most career guides miss: how AI is reshaping the route in and what keeps the role durable.

The route in

What it takes to become a laborers and freight mover

Becoming a laborers and freight mover is a moderate exposure career path that AI is actively reshaping. This guide lays out the route in: the preparation it typically takes (some preparation), the skills that matter most like administration and management and customer and personal service, the roles people move in from, the salary to expect (a median of $40,240), and where the work stays durable as AI absorbs the routine layer. Laborers and Freight Movers read 46/100 on the AI exposure scale.

Typical preparation
Some preparation
About several months to a year.
Median US wage
$40,240
$31,270 to $55,140
AI exposure
46/100 · Moderate Exposure
Full reading
Day to day

What does a laborers and freight mover do?

Manually move freight, stock, luggage, or other materials, or perform other general labor. Includes all manual laborers not elsewhere classified.

Also known as: Warehouse Worker, Material Handler, Freight Handler, Order Picker.

1Maintain equipment storage areas to ensure that inventory is protected.
2Read work orders or receive oral instructions to determine work assignments or material or equipment needs.
3Move freight, stock, or other materials to and from storage or production areas, loading docks, delivery vehicles, ships, or containers, by hand or using trucks, tractors, or other equipment.
4Install protective devices, such as bracing, padding, or strapping, to prevent shifting or damage to items being transported.
5Sort cargo before loading and unloading.
6Attach identifying tags to containers or mark them with identifying information.
Skills & tools

Skills and tools you need to become a laborers and freight mover

Two layers decide how durable the role is. The knowledge and judgment on the left hold their value as the work changes, while the tools on the right are what AI is bringing to the job. Build both, and use the tools to multiply your output rather than compete with them.

Core knowledge
  • Administration and Management
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Transportation
  • Production and Processing
AI tools in this field
Blue Yondero9 Solutionsproject44Manhattan AssociatesFourKitesChatGPT

The tools reshaping the role. Build fluency in these to enter with leverage, not compete with them.

The path

Six steps to becoming a laborers and freight mover

There is no single way in, but the route tends to follow the same arc. These steps take you from the foundations through real experience to a position that stays durable as AI reshapes the work.

Step 1
Build the educational foundation

Usually a high school diploma plus some vocational training, certification, or prior experience.

Step 2
Develop the core skills

Laborers and Freight Movers draw most on Administration and Management, Customer and Personal Service, Public Safety and Security, and Transportation. Build these deliberately through coursework, projects, and real work.

Step 3
Gain hands-on experience

Experience is what turns study into an offer. Build proof through internships, junior roles, or real projects that show you can do the laborers and freight movers work, not just describe it.

Step 4
Earn the credentials that matter

Credentials signal readiness. Earn the certifications or licences your target employers actually screen for, which for laborers and freight movers can range from a degree to specific professional certificates.

Step 5
Get in through an adjacent role

Many laborers and freight movers arrive from related roles such as Machine Feeders and Offbearers, Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators, Packers and Packagers, Hand. These are realistic entry points if a direct path is not open yet.

Step 6
Position for durability, not just entry

Laborers and Freight Movers sit at 46/100 on the AI exposure scale (moderate exposure). As you enter, aim for the judgment, accountability, and specialist layer of the role, which is what holds value as AI absorbs the routine work.

Pay by market

Laborers and Freight Mover salary by country

Pay for a laborers and freight mover shifts a lot by market. Here is the US median expressed in local, purchasing-power-adjusted terms across major markets, so you can gauge what the role is worth wherever you plan to work.

United States$40,200
United Kingdom£20,800
Canada$41,900
Australia$42,900
Germany26.100 €
India₹6,92,700

PPP-adjusted approximations from the US median. Billing and exact figures vary by market.

Full laborers and freight movers salary breakdown across 13 markets
The verdict

Is becoming a laborers and freight mover worth it as AI advances?

Becoming a laborers and freight mover is a moderate-exposure, bimodal path (46/100)., and pays a median of $40,240. The routine production layer is compressing as AI absorbs it, while the judgment, accountability, and relationship layer appreciates. It is worth entering, provided you aim upward at the durable part of the role rather than the part a model can already do.

AI exposure
46/100
Moderate Exposure
US workforce
3.0M
people employed
Median pay
$40,240
US per year
FAQ

Becoming a laborers and freight mover: common questions

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What Professionals Are Saying

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Director of Client Strategy · New York, USA

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