Freight agents work wherever goods and other materials are transported.
The transportation industry relies on a range of workers to ensure goods and materials are shipped quickly and efficiently. Freight brokers, or freight agents, arrange cargo shipments, determinie shipment rates and verifying paperwork and regulatory procedures are met. Freight agent salaries vary widely depending on several factors.
National Averages
About 82,440 people worked as cargo and freight agents in 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. These workers made an average salary of about $18.72 an hour, or about $38,940 per year. Freight agents in the top 10 percentile of earners made an average of $27.94 per hour, or about $58,110 a year, while those in the lowest 10th percentile of earners made an average of $10.67 an hour, or $22,190 per year.
Most Common Sectors
The freight transportation arrangement sector of the economy employed the highest number of freight brokers in 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The approximately 82,440 freight agents in this sector made an average of about $19.08 an hour, or about $39,680 per year. The schedules air transportation industry employed the next-highest number of freight agents, with the estimated 13,280 agents in this sector earning an average of $18.10 an hour, or about $37,640 per year.
Highest Paying Sectors
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the estimated 2,150 freight agents employed in the support activities for water transportation had the highest average wages out of any freight agent sector in 2009. These freight agents earned an average of $29.31 an hour, or about $60,960 per year. Those in the second-highest sector, federal executive branch, earned an average of about about $24.93 an hour, or about $51,860 per year.
Geographic Differences
The five states in which freight agent brokers had the highest average wages in 2009 were, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: Connecticut, Washington, Wyoming, Kansas and Massachusetts. The estimated 430 freight agents in the highest-paying state, Connecticut, earned an average of about $23.84 an hour,or about $49,590 per year. The approximately 1,230 workers in the fifth-highest paying state, Massachusetts, earned an average of $22.22 per hour, or about $46,210 per year.
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