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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.
  • Summary

  • Details

  • Work Activities

    • Assist clients in obtaining insurance reimbursements.
    • Prepare shipping documentation, such as bills of lading, packing lists, dock receipts, or certificates of origin.
    • Verify proper packaging and labeling of exported goods.
    • Determine efficient and cost-effective methods of moving goods from one location to another.
    • Analyze shipping routes to determine how to minimize environmental impact.
    • 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.
    • Consider environmental sustainability factors when determining merchandise packing methods.
    • Negotiate shipping rates with freight carriers.
    • Review the environmental records of freight carriers to inform shipping decisions.
    • Obtain or arrange cargo insurance.
    • Verify adherence of documentation to customs, insurance, or regulatory requirements.
    • Make arrangements with customs brokers to facilitate the passage of goods through customs.
    • Calculate weight, volume, or cost of goods to be moved.
    • Arrange delivery or storage of goods at destinations.
    • Reserve necessary space on ships, aircraft, trains, or trucks.
    • Recommend shipping solutions to minimize cost or environmental impacts.
    • Keep records of goods dispatched or received.
    • Provide detailed port information to importers or exporters.
    • Maintain current knowledge of relevant legislation, political situations, or other factors that could affect freight shipping.
    • Consolidate loads with a common destination to reduce costs to individual shippers.
    • Select shipment routes, based on nature of goods shipped, transit times, or security needs.
    • Inform clients of factors such as shipping options, timelines, transfers, or regulations affecting shipments.
    • Provide shipment status notification to exporters, consignees, or insurers.
    • Pay or arrange for payment of freight or insurance fees or other charges.
    • Arrange for applicable duties, taxes, or paperwork for customs clearance.
    • Arrange for special transport of sensitive cargoes, such as livestock, food, or medical supplies.
    • Complete customs paperwork.
    • Monitor or record locations of goods in transit.
    • Arrange for transport, using a variety of modes, such as rail, short sea shipping, air, or roadways, to minimize carbon emissions or other environmental impacts.
    • Prepare invoices or cost quotations for freight transportation.

    Skills

    • Management of Personnel Resources
      • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
    • Persuasion
      • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
    • Learning Strategies
      • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
    • Writing
      • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
    • Complex Problem Solving
      • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
    • Technology Design
      • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
    • Time Management
      • Managing your time and the time of other people.
    • Management of Financial Resources
      • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
    • Critical Thinking
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
    • Judgment and Decision Making
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
    • Repairing
      • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
    • Installation
      • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
    • Social Perceptiveness
      • Understanding people's reactions.
    • Operations Monitoring
      • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
    • Instructing
      • Teaching people how to do something.
    • Quality Control Analysis
      • Testing how well a product or service works.
    • Speaking
      • Talking to others.
    • Equipment Maintenance
      • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
    • Coordination
      • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
    • Science
      • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
    • Mathematics
      • Using math to solve problems.
    • Management of Material Resources
      • Managing equipment and materials.
    • Monitoring
      • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
    • Active Listening
      • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
    • Operation and Control
      • Using equipment or systems.
    • Reading Comprehension
      • Reading work-related information.
    • Systems Evaluation
      • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
    • Equipment Selection
      • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
    • Programming
      • Writing computer programs.
    • Operations Analysis
      • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
    • Service Orientation
      • Looking for ways to help people.
    • Troubleshooting
      • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
    • Negotiation
      • Bringing people together to solve differences.
    • Active Learning
      • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
    • Systems Analysis
      • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    Abilities

    • Selective Attention
      • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
    • 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.
    • Fluency of Ideas
      • Coming up with lots of ideas.
    • Sound Localization
      • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
    • Stamina
      • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
    • Explosive Strength
      • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
    • Control Precision
      • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
    • Mathematical Reasoning
      • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
    • Information Ordering
      • Ordering or arranging things.
    • Dynamic Strength
      • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
    • Wrist-Finger Speed
      • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
    • Visual Color Discrimination
      • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
    • Trunk Strength
      • Using your lower back and stomach.
    • Problem Sensitivity
      • Noticing when problems happen.
    • Depth Perception
      • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
    • Speech Recognition
      • Recognizing spoken words.
    • Oral Comprehension
      • Listening and understanding what people say.
    • Perceptual Speed
      • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
    • Speed of Closure
      • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
    • Flexibility of Closure
      • Seeing hidden patterns.
    • Spatial Orientation
      • Knowing where things are around you.
    • Response Orientation
      • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
    • Auditory Attention
      • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
    • Manual Dexterity
      • Holding or moving items with your hands.
    • Far Vision
      • Seeing details that are far away.
    • Night Vision
      • Seeing at night or under low light.
    • Hearing Sensitivity
      • Telling the difference between sounds.
    • Time Sharing
      • Doing two or more things at the same time.
    • Multilimb Coordination
      • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
    • Oral Expression
      • Communicating by speaking.
    • Speech Clarity
      • Speaking clearly.
    • Number Facility
      • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
    • Memorization
      • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
    • Visualization
      • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
    • Extent Flexibility
      • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Dynamic Flexibility
      • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Gross Body Equilibrium
      • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
    • Near Vision
      • Seeing details up close.
    • Peripheral Vision
      • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
    • Speed of Limb Movement
      • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
    • Static Strength
      • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
    • Written Comprehension
      • Reading and understanding what is written.
    • Originality
      • Creating new and original ideas.
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
      • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
    • Inductive Reasoning
      • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
    • Reaction Time
      • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
    • Finger Dexterity
      • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
    • Glare Sensitivity
      • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
    • Category Flexibility
      • Grouping things in different ways.
    • Deductive Reasoning
      • Using rules to solve problems.
    • Written Expression
      • Communicating by writing.

    Knowledge

    • 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.
    • Computers and Electronics
      • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Food Production
      • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
    • Sociology and Anthropology
      • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Law and Government
      • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
    • Telecommunications
      • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
    • English Language
      • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Transportation
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
    • 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.
    • Design
      • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
    • History and Archeology
      • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Fine Arts
      • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
    • 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.
    • Economics and Accounting
      • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
    • Mechanical
      • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Production and Processing
      • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
    • 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.
    • Biology
      • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Mathematics
      • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    Education

    Education
    High school diploma or equivalent
    Work Experience
    No work experience
    Training
    Less than 1 month on-the-job training

    Pay

    Washington Annual Salary
    55140/yr
    Washington Hourly Wage
    26.51/hr

    Washington Employment Trends

    Currently Employed
    2,880
    Yearly Projected Openings
    350

    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
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Analytical Thinking
    • Achievement/Effort
    • Adaptability/Flexibility

    Tools

    • Desktop computers
    • Laser fax machine
    • Notebook computers
    • Personal computers
    • Special purpose telephones

    Technology

    • Compliance software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Industrial control software
    • Internet browser software
    • Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
    • Office suite software
    • Presentation software
    • Procurement software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Word processing software