Top 12 Freight Handler Skills to Put on Your Resume
In today's fast-paced logistics and supply chain world, a crisp, no-nonsense resume matters. Freight handlers who show rugged physical stamina, sharp technical know-how, and steady soft skills stand out. Mix precision with pace. Show safety without slowing. That balance wins interviews—and the job.
Freight Handler Skills
- Forklift Operation
- Pallet Jack
- Inventory Management
- RF Scanners
- Hazardous Materials Handling
- Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)
- Shipping & Receiving
- Order Picking
- Load Securing
- OSHA Safety Standards
- Container Stuffing
- EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) Compliance
1. Forklift Operation
Forklift operation means moving, stacking, loading, and unloading freight with precision—safely—across docks, yards, and tight warehouse aisles.
Why It's Important
It speeds the flow of goods, cuts strain, and slashes injury risk. Fewer damaged pallets. Faster turns. Cleaner workflows.
How to Improve Forklift Operation Skills
Sharpen safety and control. Then keep going:
Formal training and certification on the actual models used, plus refreshers.
Daily pre-shift checks for forks, chains, hydraulics, brakes, alarms, and tires.
Clear rules: speed limits, horn use at intersections, posted load capacities, clean aisles, tight turns with caution.
Preventive maintenance on a set schedule to stop failures before they happen.
Ergonomics: adjustable seats, mirrors, and mast cameras where needed to reduce fatigue and blind spots.
Telematics and monitoring for impacts, speed, utilization, and battery health—coach from real data.
Post-incident coaching and open feedback loops to fix patterns fast.
Safer, smoother, faster. That’s the aim.
How to Display Forklift Operation Skills on Your Resume
2. Pallet Jack
A pallet jack—manual or powered—moves pallets over short distances, tight spaces, and crowded floors where forklifts don’t fit or aren’t needed.
Why It's Important
Quick repositioning without a big machine. Less congestion, fewer delays, lighter strain on backs and shoulders when used correctly.
How to Improve Pallet Jack Skills
Pick ergonomic designs with comfortable grips, smooth controls, and low rolling resistance.
Match capacity to load so brakes and frames aren’t pushed past their limits.
Choose durable frames and wheels suited to your floor (poly, nylon, or rubber).
Use adjustable forks or specialty jacks for odd pallet sizes and skids.
Maintain often: lube, hydraulics, wheels, forks—fix wobble early.
Add safety features like parking brakes and controlled lowering to prevent runaway loads.
Small tool, big difference when tuned and cared for.
How to Display Pallet Jack Skills on Your Resume
3. Inventory Management
Keeping the right items, in the right slots, at the right counts—then moving them out on time with records that match reality.
Why It's Important
Accuracy trims cost. Clean counts speed picking. Customers get what they ordered when they expect it. Less chaos, more flow.
How to Improve Inventory Management Skills
Adopt a reliable system for real-time tracking (barcodes or RFID), cycle counts, and reconciliation.
Use ABC analysis and smart slotting so fast-movers sit close and heavy items live low.
Forecast with data—seasonality, lead times, order patterns—then adjust safety stock.
Run frequent cycle counts instead of rare, painful full counts; tighten tolerances over time.
Streamline layout to cut travel: clean aisles, clear labeling, consistent bin logic.
Cross-train staff to cover picking, putaway, and counting without bottlenecks.
Standardize receiving checks and damage handling so errors don’t enter on day one.
Precision starts at the dock and ends at dispatch. Guard both.
How to Display Inventory Management Skills on Your Resume
4. RF Scanners
Handheld devices that read barcodes or tags and punch data straight into your system. Fewer keystrokes, fewer mistakes, faster moves.
Why It's Important
They drive accuracy in picking, putaway, cycle counts, and verification. Speed with proof.
How to Improve RF Scanners Skills
Prioritize ergonomics and bright, readable screens to curb fatigue in long shifts.
Strengthen connectivity with solid Wi‑Fi coverage and offline buffering for dead zones.
Pick rugged hardware rated for dust, drops, and cold docks—warehouse life is rough.
Integrate tightly with WMS so scans trigger prompts, checks, and exceptions in real time.
Use validation rules (location, item, lot/serial, quantity) to block bad scans before they spread.
Train for speed and accuracy—proper aiming, good grip, scan sequences, and device care.
Right device, right workflow, right data. That trifecta pays off.
How to Display RF Scanners Skills on Your Resume
5. Hazardous Materials Handling
Safe identification, storage, loading, unloading, and movement of regulated goods—without incidents, with full compliance.
Why It's Important
Protects people, facilities, and the environment. Prevents fines and keeps freight moving legally and safely.
How to Improve Hazardous Materials Handling Skills
Get certified training for recognition, segregation, packaging, and emergency response.
Follow current regulations for classification, labeling, documentation, and transport.
Use proper PPE based on the substance and task—no shortcuts.
Rely on Safety Data Sheets (SDS)—updated term replacing older MSDS—for handling and first-aid guidance.
Stage spill kits and rehearse response drills; log incidents and near-misses.
Segregate incompatible goods and secure containers against puncture, tipping, or heat.
Compliance is the floor. Culture of safety is the ceiling.
How to Display Hazardous Materials Handling Skills on Your Resume
6. Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)
Software that runs the warehouse: receiving, putaway, slotting, picking, packing, shipping, and every scan in between.
Why It's Important
A strong WMS trims errors, guides labor, and makes inventory visible. It’s the nerve center.
How to Improve Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) Skills
Integrate with TMS, ERP, and carriers so orders, inventory, and tracking flow without rekeying.
Turn on real-time analytics for pick rates, dwell time, backorders, and slot heatmaps.
Automate wisely—labels, waves, replenishment triggers, AS/RS or AMRs where volume justifies.
Train continuously and document SOPs; update them as workflows evolve.
Consider cloud for faster updates, scalability, and disaster recovery.
Customize carefully—configure first, extend only where it pays back in throughput or accuracy.
Maintain and update on a cadence; test patches and backups; audit permissions.
Good process plus good software beats either one alone.
How to Display Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) Skills on Your Resume
7. Shipping & Receiving
Outbound gets goods packed, labeled, and loaded. Inbound checks, counts, inspects, and slots arrivals. Both sides must click.
Why It's Important
It’s the gate. Accuracy here sets the tone. Misses ripple through inventory, orders, and schedules.
How to Improve Shipping & Receiving Skills
Design the dock flow: logical lanes, staging zones, and clear signage; minimize cross-traffic.
Use tech for real-time receiving, ASN validation, and carton/pallet labeling.
Train relentlessly on damage checks, count verification, and exception handling.
Build quality gates—weighing, photo capture, and seal checks before release.
Communicate live across warehouse, drivers, and customer service; simple channels, fast answers.
Maintain equipment on a preventive schedule; track downtime and repair trends.
Watch KPIs like dock-to-stock time, on-time ship rate, damage rate, and error percentage.
Hard-stop safety: cones, chocks, lockout/tagout, and safe pedestrian paths.
When docks hum, the whole building hums.
How to Display Shipping & Receiving Skills on Your Resume
8. Order Picking
Grabbing the right items, in the right quantities, from the right spots—fast—and handing them off for pack and ship.
Why It's Important
It touches nearly every order. Errors here hurt most. Accuracy and speed make customers smile.
How to Improve Order Picking Skills
Optimize layout and slotting based on velocity and affinity; keep heavy items low and near pack.
Use smart methods—batch, cluster, wave, or zone picking to cut walking time.
Leverage WMS guidance with clear prompts, pictures, and scan confirmations.
Voice or pick-to-light for hands-free speed and fewer mis-picks in the right environments.
Standardize containers (totes, carts) and paths; design for one-pass picking when possible.
Coach continuously: pace setting, error reviews, and micro-learning on weak steps.
Mine the data to spot bottlenecks, dead zones, and re-slot opportunities.
Shorter walks, cleaner scans, tighter checks. That’s the game.
How to Display Order Picking Skills on Your Resume
9. Load Securing
Locking freight in place so it doesn’t slide, tip, crush, or burst loose in transit.
Why It's Important
Protects people and product. It’s also a legal requirement. Bad securement costs dearly.
How to Improve Load Securing Skills
Assess the freight—weight, center of gravity, fragility, shape—before choosing a method.
Select the right gear: rated straps, chains, bars, edge protectors, anti-slip mats, airbags.
Distribute weight evenly to keep balance and axle loads in range.
Brace and block to prevent forward, rearward, and lateral movement.
Follow recognized codes and cargo securement rules; document your checks.
Re-check en route where allowed, especially after the first miles settle the load.
Securement is engineering plus habit. Treat it that seriously.
How to Display Load Securing Skills on Your Resume
10. OSHA Safety Standards
Rules and practices that cut risk: safe lifting, PPE, machine guarding, powered industrial truck standards, hazard communication, and emergency response.
Why It's Important
Fewer injuries, fewer shutdowns, fewer claims. A culture that sends people home in one piece.
How to Improve OSHA Safety Standards Skills
Deliver role-specific training with hands-on practice and refreshers tied to real hazards.
Use and maintain the right PPE; inspect regularly and replace on schedule.
Design for ergonomics—lift limits, height-adjust benches, mechanical assists, job rotation.
Audit routinely and fix hazards fast; encourage near-miss reporting without blame.
Drill emergencies—evacuations, spills, first aid, and communication roles.
Paper policies don’t prevent injuries. Habits and practice do.
How to Display OSHA Safety Standards Skills on Your Resume
11. Container Stuffing
Loading a container so goods fit tight, ride safely, and arrive intact—no surprises when doors swing open.
Why It's Important
Maximizes space, protects cargo, and avoids claims. It also supports weight compliance and stable handling.
How to Improve Container Stuffing Skills
Plan the load with a sketch or calculator—sequence, stack, and restraint before you touch a pallet.
Balance weight front-to-back and side-to-side; heavy low, fragile high, crush-resistance respected.
Secure aggressively with blocking, bracing, straps, and dunnage; use airbags to fill voids.
Control moisture using desiccants and dry floors; avoid wet packaging.
Verify gross mass (VGM) for ocean shipments per SOLAS; document accurately.
Inspect container for holes, weak floors, odor, and CSC plate validity before loading.
A tight pack is cheaper than a loose claim.
How to Display Container Stuffing Skills on Your Resume
12. EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) Compliance
Standardized electronic exchange of shipping docs, orders, invoices, ASNs, and acknowledgments with trading partners—fast, accurate, traceable.
Why It's Important
It cuts keystrokes and errors, speeds billing and shipment visibility, and keeps partners in sync.
How to Improve EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) Compliance Skills
Know the standards—ANSI X12, EDIFACT—and your partners’ required documents and segments.
Deploy solid EDI tooling with mapping, validation, error handling, and dashboards.
Use secure transports (AS2, SFTP, FTPS) and monitor delivery receipts and 997/CONTRL acknowledgments.
Tighten data quality at the source: master data, codes, units, and required fields.
Collaborate with partners on specs, testing windows, and change management; document SLAs.
Audit routinely—exceptions, rejects, resend rates—and fix root causes, not just symptoms.
Bridge to APIs when needed to connect systems without breaking compliance.
Clean maps, clean data, clean handshakes. That’s EDI done right.
How to Display EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) Compliance Skills on Your Resume
