Forklift Driver job description
182 verified openings in Forklift Operator
Who signs the check sets a forklift driver's pay more than the job title. Warehousing and storage employs about 33 percent of material moving machine operators, wholesale trade another 12 percent, and temporary help services 7 percent, and those are three different pay conversations. BLS reports driver and operator alike under industrial truck and tractor operators, one wage line for both titles. The May 2025 median was $46,420, with $36,840 at the tenth percentile and $62,520 at the ninetieth.
Core Duties and Responsibilities
The day is trailers: unloading inbound freight, staging outbound, feeding a production line, putting stock away, and pulling it back out. O*NET's task record opens with working the lifting devices that load, unload, transport, and stack, then driving material between loading, processing, and storage areas. Positioning the forks around a loaded skid and securing what sits on it is part of the job, and so is inspecting a load against the order before it leaves the building.
Common Skills and Technologies
Operation and Control rates first among the skills for this occupation and Operations Monitoring second. Coordination and Time Management come next, because a driver is always working to somebody else's departure time. Instructions arrive on a screen fed by warehouse management software rather than on a clipboard, and SAP shows up on the paperwork side in the bigger networks.
Education, Training, and Career Path
Entry asks for no diploma in practice, and 23 percent of the operators surveyed reported less than one. What gates the seat is the certification under OSHA 1910.178, which the employer issues after training and an evaluation. From there the move up is usually to a lead or supervisor seat, where BLS puts the median at $62,890.
Sources: O*NET 30.0, 53-7051.00 Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators, https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/53-7051.00. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, 53-7051, https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Material Moving Machine Operators, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/material-moving-machine-operators.htm.