Top 25 Freight Handler Interview Questions and Answers in 2024

Editorial Team

25 Freight Handler Interview Questions & Answers

Ever since the businesses have gone global, there has been a major increase in the positions like Freight Handler. From managing and moving the incoming and outgoing freight, they are indeed an important person at the facility. If you are planning to join the field as your career, you have found the right article to help you prepare for the interview. Before we tell you about the job and the challenges, we have shared Top 25 Freight Handler Interview Questions & Answers that will be will helpful.

1. How Do You Stay Motivated In This Role?

I enjoy my job and that keeps me motivated. I joined this field when I was a young boy and I have moved all across the country within this career. I like how businesses are growing with such vast transport facilities available globally now.

2. Why Did You Choose This Career?

I joined one of the companies as a part-time job during high school. I was a young boy but had great stamina to lift things around. I kept working since I was being taught about all the protocols of business operations inside a warehouse. Time passed by and before I knew it, I was enjoying this work.

3. Are You Aware Of Safety In This Field?

Of course! Safety is the basics of this field because the damage can be serious. I have seen so many accidents on sight due to little carelessness. I always start my work by making sure that the machinery I am handling is well prepared for the day.

4. What Are Your Strengths That Can Be Beneficial In This Job?

My physical stamina is my strength! I can work till long hours and odd ones too. I have been working at different warehouses across the country for years now. I have handled loading and unloading of truck trailers and using fork lifters with great safety.

5. As You Know, Using A Forklift Is One Of The Key Components Of The Job. How Well Equipped Are You?

First, I have a valid driver’s license. You can also check my driving history and see that I am a responsible driver so far. Last year, I also got forklift certification from the training school and my certificate is also OSHA compliant. You can also check my skills in stacking, moving, and organizing using a forklift in a test at the warehouse.

6. Can You Work Under Pressure? How Do You Cope With The Pressure?

I have worked under really stressful times and I believe I can manage well. If there is any stress in my mind, I usually opt for strength-related activities to let it out. I am always making sure that I am keeping myself fit mentally and physically too because I am responsible for safety at work. If there is any time-related stress at work, I always speak to my line manager about it and manage the time to complete the task. Usually, I reach out early to work to know what sort of tasks are there for today and what timelines are we looking for. This helps in focusing and doing a great job.

7. What Are You Passionate About?

My favorite time pass is cooking. I love how different assembling of spices and vegetables and other items can create a new dish. With my interest in cooking, I have been able to develop a skill of attention to detail that makes my professional work easier too. As I keening observe, I believe that my learning is better than others.

8. What Do You Like To Do Outside Of Work?

If I am not working, I would be at my home cooking with my family! I love cooking and I am always collecting food recipes from the internet and I try them on weekends. Cooking helps me stay calm and I like the idea of feeding my kids new recipes while we all make memories in the kitchen.

9. Do You Prefer To Work Independently Or Do You Thrive In A Team Environment?

I do not have any preferences. I have performed well in both situations. I believe that interaction with teams is beneficial for all because you get to learn from each other. I like the hustling environment at work because obviously, it’s humans who are working not robots. I always enjoy my mates at work who motivates me to perform better every day.

10. When You’re Balancing Multiple Projects, How Do You Keep Yourself Organized?

I am used to juggling multiple shipments in my current jobs. I usually have a lot of time for such days like my first half would be spent on shipment A and post-lunch; I will shift to another project. This helps me in multitasking too and upgrading my time management skills. With this, I have been able to work on several different types of projects as compared to other fellow workers. As I work on new projects, I get to learn more about methods and management skills involved in the warehouse and logistics

11. What Did You Do In The Last Year To Improve Your Knowledge?

Pandemic did harm the logistic side of the business. Since I had a lot of free time, I took online courses in Inventory Management and learned about warehouse management software too. I assisted my line manager in a few online inventory management tasks for some extra dollars. It was a good experience since I was able to learn something different every day.

12. What Do You Consider To Be Your Weakness?

I would say my team management skill is a little weak. Usually, I used to be a little unaware of the workload my team has. I was informed about it and I agreed that I can improve it. So now I usually have weekly roundups with my team to know what’s on their plate and how I can support them. For a year or two, I am working on this weakness to become my strength. I want to mention it as my strength that I am a team player!

13. How Do You Prioritize Your Work?

My to-do list on the phone is my savior every day, personal to professional life. I usually end my day to complete the task list for the next day. It helps me in knowing the priority and what should I be more focused on the next day. If I have a few unimportant tasks and my team member needs help, I can always help like that.

14. Why Is Warehouse Management Software Important?

Managing a warehouse is not necessarily a very easy task. To be highly successful in this dynamic and exciting market and business environment, it is very crucial to evaluate every function of the business. The company must arm itself with state-of-the-art warehouse management systems.

WMS is an important feature of the supply chain that focuses on managing the storage and movement of items in a warehouse. It also records and processes all the related transactions like a delivery, receipt, picking, etc. Apart from that, it also involves communication and tracking between different product stations. Today’s warehouse management systems must have intelligent work direction modules compatible with RFID technology to provide reduced labor costs, increased productivity, better space utilization, and great accuracy.

15. What Type Of Work Environment Do You Prefer?

I am always looking for a learning work environment that does not bore me. The problem in my field is that candidates start considering themselves as drivers who have no clue apart from their jobs. For example, last year, I took a few online courses about inventory management skills that helped.

16. What Are The Available Options In Shipping Freight?

In the market, there are few available options.

  • Global Shipping Company – Has nationwide and international terminals where they can ship by road, by sea or by air. With their network, it’s the most efficient way to reach a destination.
  • Common Carrier- It only has terminals in one specific region and uses trucks for shipments. It is usually cost-effective to large companies but not small ones because of their higher rates for less volume.
  • Local Trucking Company- It only covers a city or slightly larger area. For shipping heavy loads across town, the local trucking company may be your best bet as you can often get competitive rates, on the other hand, some of these companies are very small and you may have to wait longer before your cargo is picked up.
  • Freight Broker-They don’t own trucks; they arrange shipments with a variety of other trucking firms. They handle a large number of shipments so they can use this leverage to negotiate lower pricing with the common carriers. This results in lower rates for the client. While the freight broker will negotiate and track shipments for you, they do not take legal responsibility for the cargo: that falls back to the carrier.
  • Freight Forwarder: It is almost like a freight broker. They negotiate with a variety of carriers to get good rates and handle the logistics and tracking. The major difference is that the freight forwarder takes legal responsibility for the shipment and offers consolidation of shipments. That means that damage or other liability falls on the shoulders of the freight forwarder who handles the claim on behalf of the shipper.

17. What Is Cross-Docking?

The common carrier will use a local driver to pick up your cargo and bring it to the nearest terminal where it will be unloaded from one truck and reloaded to another to go to the closest major city to the final destination. This process is called cross-docking. Cross-docking can be done several times before the cargo reaches its final destination. This additional handling increases the chances of cargo damage or goods being lost or delayed. The more times a load is handled, the more chances of an unfortunate occurrence.

18. What Is A Bill Of Lading And Why Is It Important?

A bill of lading is a shipping document used as a contract to show the final destination of where your goods are being shipped to. The bill of lading is used to clear the shipment when it arrives so either you or your agent will need this. There are two different ways you can clear your vehicle using the bill of lading, you can arrange for a Telex Release which is generally the easier option, or have the Original Bill of Lading couriered out to you.

An original bill of lading is a hard copy of the bill of lading; some countries will only accept an original bill of lading and not a telex release. Having an original bill of lading means you will have to pay courier fees for the document to be sent out to you in the country where your shipment is arriving. If there are any mistakes on the original bill then you will have to pay for a manifest corrector and send the original documents back to the shipping line before they will make any changes, this can cause quite a delay meaning that you may incur storage fees whilst you are waiting for the document to be sent back to you to clear the shipment.

19. What Is Bonded Warehousing?

A bonded warehouse is a secured warehouse facility that is covered by customs rules. Companies that export products, materials, and items abroad commonly use bonded warehousing facilities to store their products. Using this kind of warehousing facility is an optional service but businesses that would like to ensure that their products are safely and legally delivered to their customers avail of bonded warehousing services.

20. How Do You Ensure Safety In The Warehouse Due To Traffic?

The overriding risk within most warehouse environments is the movement of vehicles – both within the warehouse yard and indeed the movement of forklift trucks within the warehouse environment itself. Traffic risks must be managed through all measures:

  • Remove blind spots such as sharp corners or doors. Use pedestrian barriers near to doors and main staff walkways to physically separate people and vehicles where possible.
  • All pedestrian walkways should be marked for operational needs within the yard and warehouse floor. For example, use zebra crossings where people will cross vehicle routes.
  • On narrow routes, ensure people and vehicles are separated. Use a pedestrian entrance and a vehicle entrance – these are high-risk spots.
  • Ensure lighting is adequate for everyone to see around the warehouse.
  • All entrances to the operational area should have warning signs for moving vehicles and forklift trucks operating.
  • Site speed limits should be displayed and enforced.
  • All staff and visitors should wear high visibility jackets in areas where vehicles are moving
  • Ensure all vehicles are maintained, that owned lorries and vans have to reverse alarms and that warning lights are working

21. While Operating Fork Lift Trucks, What Safety Measures Should Be Kept In Mind?

  • Without a man cage, no one should be raised on forks.
  • The movement area for Fork Lift Trucks should be even and tidy.
  • The Trucks should be maintained and checked by an authorized person from time to time as per safety standards.
  • Only trained staff should be in charge to drive Fork Lift Trucks.

22. As Handler, What Are The Safety Protocols When Dealing With Height And Stacks At A Warehouse?

The staff should be trained and supervisors should be ensuring safety measures from time to time. If there is any high stack, it should be shrink-wrapped and tied and no one should be allowed to climb a stack because it can cause accidents.

23. What Is The Difference Between Logistics And Transport?

Logistics is the management of the goods through inwards and outwards transportation from the manufacturer to the end-user. Logistics is the simple movement of goods. These 2 are very different but important parts of the supply chain.

24. What Are The Key Aspects Of The Logistics Management Program?

A few basic aspects include:

Planning: From products to the vehicles and infrastructure and operations, how all of them will work seamlessly together.

Automation: Optimization via automation plays a major role in increasing the efficiency of every transportation company, regardless of size or specialization.

Keeping up With the Latest Trends: Logistics management is constantly evolving, with state-of-the-art technologies and innovative approaches being introduced regularly.

25. How Would You Calculate Deadweight Tonnage?

Take the weight of a vessel that is not loaded with cargo and subtract that figure from the weight of the vessel loaded to the point where it is immersed to the maximum safe depth.

Conclusion

We wish you all the best for the interview as a freight handler. Don’t lose your confidence and share your experience as they ask about your skills and working style. Share your knowledge about logistics and inventory management skills with software. Dress nicely on your interview day and greet with a smile. These 25 questions are surely going to help in acing the position of freight handler. Good luck!