Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

Imminent Risk
80%

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Vote Comments (8)
AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
91%
(Imminent Risk)
POLLING
70%
(High Risk, Based on 100 votes)
Average: 80%
LABOR DEMAND
GROWTH
2.7%
by year 2033
WAGES
$44,470
or $21.38 per hour
Volume
778,920
as of 2023
SUMMARY
What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
2.9/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

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Calculated automation risk

91% (Imminent Risk)

Imminent Risk (81-100%): Occupations in this level have an extremely high likelihood of being automated in the near future. These jobs consist primarily of repetitive, predictable tasks with little need for human judgment.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Some quite important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Manual Dexterity

  • Finger Dexterity

User poll

70% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted that it's probable this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 91% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Growth

Slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators' job openings is expected to rise 2.7% by 2033

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Wages

Low paid relative to other professions

In 2023, the median annual wage for 'Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators' was $44,470, or $21 per hour

'Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators' were paid 7.5% lower than the national median wage, which stood at $48,060

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2023 there were 778,920 people employed as 'Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators' within the United States.

This represents around 0.5% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 194 people are employed as 'Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators'.

Job description

Operate industrial trucks or tractors equipped to move materials around a warehouse, storage yard, factory, construction site, or similar location.

SOC Code: 53-7051.00

Comments (8)

Leave a comment
JP (Low)
14 Jul 2024 05:30
As a forklift operator, the risks of automation far outweigh those of a human. When a risk factor has occurred and quick thinking is required, a robot won't be able to make those split-second decisions or take instructions to minimize further risk.
A forklift operator (Moderate)
24 Jul 2022 03:40
As robotics technology continues to develop over the years, it is likely that robotic machine operators will eventually become safer, cheaper, and more efficient than their human counterparts.

Exactly how far we are from that point is unclear, but I would be surprised if there wasn't some level of automation within the next 20 years.
Gabe(Not full name) (Moderate)
07 Aug 2021 04:32
I voted likely because the job is very simple.1st get load, 2nd drive load to station. etc, 3rd then unload and get the check
Mārtiņš (Low)
08 Mar 2020 12:36
Not likely, since tractors need people to control in case of a fault like a uneven field pulls out a part and the robot keeps doing the job ruining the field or the yield.
Tom (Highly likely)
07 Sep 2019 05:16
Unfortunately they would be replaced
Rich Demarco (No chance)
10 Jul 2019 21:25
Robots simply do not have the same intuition that human drivers do to detect and predict hazards around them
Obraxis
23 Sep 2019 07:16
What a fool you are. In an autonomous warehouse ect. there are no hazards to predict... because there will be almost 0 of them. Its not that hard to think outside of your bubble.
Piffer
31 May 2020 20:04
This is where self-driving cars and trucks come in
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