Cargo and freight agents are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, cargo and freight agents rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 9% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy cargo and freight agents are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Taxi driver | 2.7 | $26k |
| Machinist | 2.7 | $28k |
| Truck driver | 2.7 | $49k |
| Construction worker | 2.7 | $12k |
| Courier | 2.7 | $26k |
| Cargo and freight agent | 2.7 | $48k |
| Delivery service driver | 2.6 | $15k |
| Hazardous materials removal worker | 2.6 | $36k |
| Traffic technician | 2.6 | $47k |
| Customs broker | 2.6 | $67k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are cargo and freight agents happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do cargo and freight agents find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as cargo and freight agents?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are cargo and freight agent’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are cargo and freight agents making the best use of their abilities?
Are cargo and freight agents happy with their salary?
Cargo and freight agents rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Cargo and freight agents tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked cargo and freight agents how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
246 cargo and freight agents
7% of cargo and freight agents rated their compensation 5 stars
23% of cargo and freight agents rated their compensation 4 stars
28% of cargo and freight agents rated their compensation 3 stars
28% of cargo and freight agents rated their compensation 2 stars
15% of cargo and freight agents rated their compensation 1 stars
Do cargo and freight agents find their jobs meaningful?
On average, cargo and freight agents rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.2/5. The majority of cargo and freight agents struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked cargo and freight agents how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.2 out of 5 stars
244 cargo and freight agents
4% of cargo and freight agents rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
13% of cargo and freight agents rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
20% of cargo and freight agents rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
28% of cargo and freight agents rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
35% of cargo and freight agents rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as cargo and freight agents?
Cargo and freight agents rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.5/5. The majority of cargo and freight agents find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked cargo and freight agents how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
265 cargo and freight agents
25% of cargo and freight agents rated their career fit 5 stars
33% of cargo and freight agents rated their career fit 4 stars
20% of cargo and freight agents rated their career fit 3 stars
11% of cargo and freight agents rated their career fit 2 stars
11% of cargo and freight agents rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a cargo and freight agent’s work environment?
As a whole, cargo and freight agents rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.1/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked cargo and freight agents how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
265 cargo and freight agents
14% of cargo and freight agents rated their work environment 5 stars
27% of cargo and freight agents rated their work environment 4 stars
31% of cargo and freight agents rated their work environment 3 stars
15% of cargo and freight agents rated their work environment 2 stars
14% of cargo and freight agents rated their work environment 1 stars
Are cargo and freight agents making the best use of their abilities?
Former cargo and freight agents on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.6/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a cargo and freight agent.
We asked cargo and freight agents how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.6 out of 5 stars
267 cargo and freight agents
9% of cargo and freight agents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
16% of cargo and freight agents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
25% of cargo and freight agents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
29% of cargo and freight agents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
22% of cargo and freight agents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars