Yes they are the same position. I currently work in that department. Some managers change the title because some parts of the country they call it Freight and other parts they call it Cargo - it's all the same. The reason you have to qualify to be able to do both Cargo/Freight Agent and Ops Agent jobs is that the union contract allows you to lateral transfer between Cargo and Ops without having to apply and interview. That way the company makes sure that anyone they bring in to the job can exercise their lateral transfer rights without any questions of qualifications. The Cargo job is essentially a warehouse style job. The short version is: the ramp agents bring in inbound cargo from the aircraft, you log it in and store it in the warehouse, and when the customer picks it up you have them sign for the shipment and deliver it to them. Outbound shipments are the reverse, but there's paperwork and TSA security requirements to be met. Depending on the location and the volume of work, it can be extremely slow or extremely busy. Due to that, most slower locations are much more difficult to get into even as an internal lateral transfer. Some locations the junior person has 20+ years seniority
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