Overview
Truck loaders prepare shipments and freight deliveries by carefully loading and securing shipments on tractor trailers for local, regional, and national deliveries. Additionally, truck loaders assist with offloading materials upon delivery and assisting drivers with connecting docks, hoses, and pipes to efficiently transfer materials to warehouses or holding tanks. truck loaders may use a wide variety of tools and machinery to support loading and unloading activities, including forklifts and cranes. Most truck loaders work within teams to quickly and efficiently load and unload trucks while maintaining loading dock safety and ensuring that materials are protected in transit.
Duties
Load and Offload Materials by Hand
- The primary duty of a truck loader is loading shipments on tractor trailers and taking shipments off of trucks upon arrival. This aspect of the role can involve using hand trucks to load individual packages, bundling shipments together prior to loading, and moving incoming shipments from the truck to a warehouse. Truck loaders often need to carry heavy boxes between a loading dock and truck bed.
Connect Pipes, Hoses, and Docks
- In many cases, truck loaders need to connect various equipment to trucks to load materials. For example, a truck loader who works with liquids may need to connect hoses from a main tank to an intake port on a tanker truck, ensuring that connections are secure and properly sealed to prevent leaks. In other cases, a truck loader may need to connect a docking mechanism to the back of a truck.
Operate Loading and Unloading Equipment
- For heavier materials, truck loaders need to use loading equipment and machinery to load shipments. This can include using forklifts to transport and place pallets and operating cranes to load heavy products and materials on trucks. For materials that are transported loose, such as stones, a truck loader may need to operate a loader to fill the truck.
Secure Materials in Tractor Trailers
- Truck loaders are also responsible for securing materials for shipment. This typically involves following best practices for packing trucks as well as using materials to prevent items from shifting in transit. In this aspect of the role, truck drivers need to consider both the security of shipments and the ease of offloading when the materials reach their destination.
Maintain Loading and Unloading Records
- Finally, truck loaders need to maintain records of items, materials, and products that they load and offload. This can include checking shipping manifests during offloading to ensure that all expected materials have arrived as well as preparing detailed loading records that indicate materials and quantities. Truck loaders may need to collect a driver’s signature and submit these records to supervisors.
Qualification
- Ability to lift and carry heavy loads and safely place them on truck beds, so physical strength is essential in this role
- requiring long shifts spent performing physical activities, so truck loaders should also possess a high level of stamina
- Knowledge of safety tools, protocols and best practices, particularly if they are involved in loading and transporting hazardous or heavy materials
- Good verbal communication is essential in this role, as is the ability to complete loading reports for submission to supervisors
- Leadership skills to work with teams of loaders, so effective collaboration and coordination between team members is also vital
- Able to effectively manage their time.