Manufacturing
Shipping and Receiving Clerk
Last updated
Shipping and Receiving Clerks process all inbound and outbound freight at manufacturing facilities, warehouses, and distribution centers. They verify incoming deliveries against purchase orders, prepare outbound shipments with accurate documentation, maintain shipping records, and coordinate with carriers and internal departments to keep material flow moving without delays.
Role at a glance
- Typical education
- High school diploma or GED; Associate degree in logistics preferred
- Typical experience
- No specific experience required; ERP proficiency preferred
- Key certifications
- Forklift operator certification, IATA Dangerous Goods, DOT hazmat training, OSHA 10
- Top employer types
- Manufacturing, distribution, logistics, aerospace, pharmaceutical
- Growth outlook
- Steady demand driven by manufacturing re-shoring and e-commerce expansion
- AI impact (through 2030)
- Mixed — automation and automated sortation reduce manual document handling in large centers, but complex manufacturing documentation requirements maintain a need for skilled human clerks.
Duties and responsibilities
- Receive incoming shipments by verifying item counts, part numbers, and condition against purchase orders and packing lists; report discrepancies immediately
- Inspect incoming goods for visible damage, photograph damaged shipments before acceptance, and initiate freight claims with carriers when appropriate
- Enter received materials into the ERP system accurately, generating receiving documents and routing items to the correct stocking locations or inspection hold
- Prepare outbound shipments by selecting appropriate packaging, completing shipper documents (BOL, packing list, commercial invoice), and labeling packages per carrier and customer requirements
- Schedule pickups with carriers — UPS, FedEx, LTL, and truckload — and coordinate dock door assignments for daily shipment activity
- Process domestic and international shipments, preparing export documentation including customs declarations, certificates of origin, and dangerous goods paperwork as required
- Operate forklifts and pallet jacks to move materials between dock, staging, and storage areas safely
- Maintain organized, labeled storage in the dock and receiving areas per facility 5S standards
- Track open purchase order receipts and follow up with procurement on late deliveries that could affect production schedules
- Reconcile daily shipping and receiving activity with documentation and report errors or discrepancies to the shipping supervisor or inventory manager
Overview
Shipping and Receiving Clerks are the material flow gatekeepers at a manufacturing or distribution facility. Every part, raw material, or purchased component that enters the building passes through receiving; every finished good, return, or vendor shipment that leaves passes through shipping. Getting those transactions right — accurate counts, correct documentation, proper condition verification — is what keeps production running and customers satisfied.
The receiving function involves more than counting boxes. A clerk checking in a shipment needs to verify part numbers against purchase orders (not just descriptions), count items by unit of measure (a PO for 1,000 pieces purchased in boxes of 100 means counting 10 boxes, not 10 items), inspect for damage before signing the carrier receipt, and enter the receipt into the ERP system with enough precision that the inventory record and the open PO are correctly updated. Getting any of these steps wrong creates downstream problems — inventory discrepancies, incorrect invoices, quality holds on materials that were actually correct.
Shipping requires parallel discipline. A wrong quantity on a packing list means the customer receives something different from what they ordered and the invoice doesn't match. A missing or incorrect label means a package that can't be delivered. An incorrectly classified hazardous material shipment means a regulatory violation. A BOL with a wrong weight means a potential overcharge from the carrier. Clerks who move quickly but don't verify carefully create exactly these problems regularly.
Dock scheduling is a coordination role that affects production planning. When a shipment of critical raw materials is late, the shipping and receiving clerk is often the first person who knows — and getting that information to procurement and production planning quickly enough for them to act on it is a real contribution to operational stability.
Qualifications
Education:
- High school diploma or GED (standard minimum requirement)
- Associate degree in logistics, supply chain, or business administration (preferred at some facilities)
- No specific degree required; demonstrated accuracy with numbers and ERP proficiency matter more to most employers
Certifications and training:
- Forklift operator certification (OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178) — required at most dock operations
- IATA Dangerous Goods certificate — required for shipping hazardous materials by air
- DOT hazmat training — required for ground transportation of regulated materials
- OSHA 10 — general safety baseline for manufacturing floor work
Technical skills:
- ERP proficiency: receiving transactions, PO matching, inventory adjustments, shipping transactions in SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Epicor, or similar
- Shipping systems: UPS WorldShip, FedEx Ship Manager, LTL carrier portals
- Carrier documentation: bill of lading preparation, packing list creation, commercial invoice for international shipments
- Barcode scanning and basic WMS if applicable
- Basic Excel for tracking open receipts and shipment logs
Physical requirements:
- Standing and walking throughout shift on dock and warehouse floors
- Lifting and handling packages up to 50 lbs.; team lift or mechanical assist for heavier items
- Operating powered industrial trucks (forklifts, pallet jacks) safely in dock environments
- Working in temperature-varying dock environments with exposure to outdoor weather at bay doors
Personal attributes that predict success:
- Accuracy-first mentality: verifying before recording, not recording and hoping it's right
- Organized under time pressure — carriers have pickup windows and production has schedule deadlines
- Clear communication when discrepancies are found — early notification beats later explanation
Career outlook
Shipping and Receiving Clerk is a broadly employed role with consistent hiring demand across manufacturing, distribution, and logistics. The function exists in essentially every facility that receives raw materials and ships finished goods, which means the employment base is very large and distributed across industries and geographies.
Demand is steady with some growth from re-shoring. Manufacturing capacity additions in electronics, pharmaceuticals, and advanced manufacturing require dock operations staffing from day one of production. E-commerce growth continues to drive distribution center expansion that creates shipping and receiving positions, though these are more logistics-sector than manufacturing-sector roles.
Automation is affecting the job mix differently by facility type. Large distribution centers are deploying automated receiving and sortation systems that reduce manual document handling. Manufacturing facility docks are more heterogeneous — many different types of inbound shipments, irregular volumes, and complex outbound documentation requirements — and remain more reliant on skilled human clerks. Facilities with aerospace, medical device, or pharmaceutical customers require documentation precision that automated systems don't yet fully replace.
Career advancement from Shipping and Receiving Clerk typically leads toward Shipping Supervisor, Receiving Supervisor, Warehouse Lead, or Inventory Control Specialist. Clerks who develop ERP depth, earn a forklift instructor certification, or build expertise in hazmat or international shipping documentation find they have more options across industries. APICS CSCP or CPIM credentials open paths toward materials manager and supply chain analyst roles for clerks who want to move into the broader supply chain career.
Compensation within the clerk title has limited growth ceiling — most facilities pay experienced clerks $48K–$54K at the top of the range. The meaningful compensation step changes come with supervisory or specialist advancement rather than within the clerk title itself.
Sample cover letter
Dear Hiring Manager,
I'm applying for the Shipping and Receiving Clerk position at [Company]. I've worked in dock operations at [Company] for two years, handling inbound receiving and outbound small parcel and LTL freight at a metal fabrication facility that ships to automotive customers.
My receiving work involves matching inbound shipments to SAP purchase orders — verifying item numbers, unit of measure, and quantity before entering the receipt transaction. I've gotten thorough about checking part numbers character by character rather than description-to-description, which caught three shipment errors in the past year that would have created inventory discrepancies if they'd been entered as received.
On the shipping side, I prepare BOLs for our LTL carriers, print and apply GS1-128 labels for automotive EDI shipments, and coordinate daily pickups with our UPS account. I'm certified on our Toyota sit-down forklift and our stand-up reach truck.
I'm applying to [Company] because your mix of domestic and international shipments would expose me to export documentation that I haven't worked with yet — commercial invoices, certificates of origin, customs declarations. I've been reading about the documentation requirements to get ahead of that learning curve, and I know your company ships to Canada and Mexico regularly, which are also areas I want to develop.
Thank you for your consideration.
[Your Name]
Frequently asked questions
- What qualifications do employers look for in a Shipping and Receiving Clerk?
- High school diploma or GED is the standard baseline. The most important practical skills are attention to detail — verifying counts and part numbers accurately — computer proficiency for ERP data entry, and forklift certification for facilities with dock operations. Prior shipping and receiving experience, especially with an ERP system like SAP, Oracle, or NetSuite, shortens the onboarding period significantly and is often listed as preferred.
- What does a bill of lading do and why does it matter?
- A bill of lading (BOL) is the legal contract between a shipper and a carrier that identifies the freight being transported, its origin and destination, the terms of transport, and the shipment's value. It's the primary document for resolving freight claims, auditing shipment accuracy, and providing proof of delivery. A BOL with incorrect weight or item descriptions creates liability issues and can delay customs clearance on international shipments.
- Is forklift certification required for all Shipping and Receiving Clerk roles?
- Not universally, but most manufacturing and distribution facilities list it as required or preferred since the dock environment almost always involves powered industrial trucks. OSHA requires employer-provided operator training and certification per 29 CFR 1910.178. Many facilities certify new hires as part of onboarding. Candidates with prior certification can demonstrate the credential immediately without waiting for in-house training.
- What ERP systems do Shipping and Receiving Clerks use?
- SAP is the most common at large manufacturers. Oracle Fusion, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, and Epicor are widely used at mid-sized companies. The specific system matters less than comfort with ERP data entry, transaction workflows, and report navigation. Clerks who understand how a receiving transaction flows through an ERP system — updating inventory, closing a PO line, triggering a payment — work more accurately than those treating the software as a form to fill out.
- How is automation affecting shipping and receiving work?
- Automated conveyor systems, barcode and RFID scanning, and warehouse management systems have reduced manual data entry and error rates in large distribution operations. Smaller manufacturing facilities still rely heavily on manual dock operations. Clerks who develop barcode scanning proficiency and familiarity with WMS software are better prepared for work at larger, more automated facilities. Fully automated inbound processing remains uncommon outside major distribution centers.
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