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Freight Team Associate Job Description: Top Duties and Qualifications

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Indeed’s Employer Guide helps businesses grow and manage their workforce. With over 15,000 articles in 6 languages, we offer tactical advice, how-tos and best practices to help businesses hire and retain great employees.

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4 min read

A freight team associate sorts, organizes and stocks inventory, including raw materials or finished products. Duties for your freight team associate job description could include receiving products from delivery trucks, placing merchandise on shelves and moving stock.

In this article, we discuss the duties, responsibilities and background for a freight team associate to help you write an effective job description for an open role.

Freight team associate duties and responsibilities

Freight team associates typically receive merchandise when it enters a warehouse and organize stock with pallet jacks and forklifts. In a retail environment, they may also interact with customers on the sales floor and help them locate items.

Common duties include:

  • Moving stock from the loading dock to the warehouse or retail floor
  • Operating manual and powered equipment, such as cranes or dollies, to move stock
  • Processing merchandise by labelling items with stock keeping units (SKUs) before they reach the sales floor
  • Ensuring the proper placement of merchandise by using warehouse management systems (WMS), such as SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM)
  • Maintaining accurate inventory counts through cycle counting and digitized inventory records

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Hire your next Freight Team Associate today

Create job description
Our mission

Indeed’s Employer Guide helps businesses grow and manage their workforce. With over 15,000 articles in 6 languages, we offer tactical advice, how-tos and best practices to help businesses hire and retain great employees.

Read our editorial guidelines
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What does a freight team associate do?

Freight team associates help ensure the efficient flow of merchandise from the loading dock to the sales floor. At the receiving stage, they may unload trucks, sort merchandise, price items and break large shipments into smaller quantities.

After processing new stock, a freight team associate typically moves merchandise to the sales floor, relocating boxes and large pallets as needed. They typically use flow diagrams, which outline the stages of the supply chain workflow.

Freight team associate skills and qualifications

Freight team associates typically combine physical work with organizational skills. They generally collaborate with other freight team members, such as receiving clerks, making interpersonal skills helpful for success in the role.

Skills for your freight team associate job description may include:

  • Ability to move merchandise manually or with equipment
  • Attention to detail for stocking, organizing and rotating merchandise
  • Organizational skills to process shipments efficiently
  • Knowledge of proper material handling practices, including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE)
  • Adaptability for seasonal increases in product volume
  • Excellent time-management skills
  • Proficiency in using inventory management software
  • Understanding of the supply chain stages, such as the plan, source, make, deliver, return (SCOR) model

Freight team associate experience requirements

If your company uses a skills-first hiring approach, consider prioritizing candidates who demonstrate strong organizational skills and adaptability. Candidates may acquire these transferable skills through a variety of professional backgrounds, such as warehouse worker or freight broker roles. Experience in the retail or sales industries may also provide teamwork and communication skills, which can be beneficial for this position.

Freight team associate education and training requirements

Freight team associates typically don’t need formal education, making this role a good match for skills-first hiring. Instead of prioritizing formal degrees, you may seek candidates who are proficient in operating powered equipment, moving stock safely or maintaining accurate inventory levels.

Candidates can generally learn how to use inventory software on the job or through voluntary online courses, such as Great Learning’s free inventory management course.

Freight team associate salary expectations

According to Indeed Salaries, the average salary for a freight team associate is $61,159 per year. Salaries may vary depending on location, candidate experience, employer size and inventory type.

Freight team associate salary expectations

2026-01-017.2515.9130.00HOURLY
  • Common salary: 15.91 HOURLY
  • Typical salaries range from 7.25 - 30.00 HOURLY
  • Find more information on Indeed Salaries

*Indeed data – 2026-01-01

Job description samples for similar positions

If this freight team associate job description doesn’t align with your needs, check out these other sample job descriptions for similar positions:

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Freight team associate job description FAQs

Three individuals are sitting at a table with a laptop, a disposable coffee cup, notebooks, and a phone visible. Two are facing each other, while the third’s back is to the camera. The setting appears to be a bright room with large windows.

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