← All 785 jobsFile 53-7051
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
Mostly untouched
AI barely touches this work so far. The BLS expects 1.5% more of these jobs by 2035, slower than the 3.5% average.
- Rank
- Joint #685 of 785 jobs, by how much of the work AI does
- US jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +1.5% All jobs: +3.5%
- Median US pay
- $46,420 a year, 2025
- People doing it
- 765,200 in the US, with about 64,700 openings a year
The work, 11 activities
The job description, marked up.
Every activity in this job, the biggest first. Tap a line for the evidence.
- deleAI does this
- +AIAI helps
- stetStill yours
Still yours: Load products, materials, or equipment for transportation or further processing22%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Operate lifting or moving equipment12%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Operate transportation equipment or vehicles11%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Inspect facilities or equipment10%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Move materials, equipment, or supplies10%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Position tools or equipment10%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Mark materials or objects for identification6%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
AI helps with this: Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment6%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 1,656 conversations, and it got them there 84% of the time.
Still yours: Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas5%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Maintain vehicles in working condition5%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Operate industrial processing or production equipment3%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
2025 to 2035
Ten years from now.
For every 100 of these jobs in 2025, the BLS projects 101 in 2035. Across all US jobs, about 104.
About 64,700 openings a year, from growth and from people who retire or move on.
BLS on AIExpansion of automated machinery may limit demand. Source ↗
Nearby
Where your skills travel.
The jobs closest to this one. None of them is much less exposed.
- Shares 41% of the workLaborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand11% AI does, against 0% here+1.8% by 2035 · $40,240 · No formal credential
- Shares 40% of the workFoundry Mold and Coremakers0% AI does, against 0% here-23% by 2035 · $48,110 · High school diploma
- Shares 38% of the workMachine Feeders and Offbearers0% AI does, against 0% here-13.1% by 2035 · $41,220 · No formal credential
The wire
On the wire.
Nothing filed about this job yet. The latest from the Work front:
How to read this file.
deleAI does this. In US Bing Copilot conversations from January to September 2024, AI itself performed the activity, completed it and made a real difference often enough to count.
+AIAI helps. People brought the activity to AI as their own goal, and it usually got them there.
stetStill yours. It barely shows up in AI use, AI rarely finishes it, or in this job it needs hands.
Shares are weighted by how much each activity matters in the job, using O*NET. Microsoft’s own AI applicability score for this job is 0.01, higher than 3% of jobs.
Doing an activity is not doing a job. The researchers behind this data warn against reading it as job loss, and so do we. It is US data; the shape of the work travels.
Sources: Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025) · O*NET OnLine, 53-7051 · BLS Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
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