Skip to content
Singulariki

Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators vs Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators and Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$46,390
$52,550
Employment · BLS OEWS
805,770
34,210
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
2nd pct
30th pct

At a glance

Dimension Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
Median pay $46,390 $52,550
Employment 805,770 34,210
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+1.1%) Declining (-0.4%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 76,400 3,100
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 2nd pct Low · 30th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 33rd pct · 20% of tasks —
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No —

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Control Precision, Operation and Control, Multilimb Coordination, Far Vision, Response Orientation, Manual Dexterity, Rate Control, Operations Monitoring, Problem Sensitivity, Reaction Time, Depth Perception, Spatial Orientation, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Near Vision, Auditory Attention, Coordination, Equipment Maintenance, Troubleshooting, Time Management, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Finger Dexterity, Peripheral Vision, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Monitoring.

Specific to Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

  • Deductive Reasoning
  • Information Ordering
  • Perceptual Speed
  • Visualization
  • Selective Attention
  • Static Strength
  • Trunk Strength
  • Mathematics

Specific to Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

  • Hearing Sensitivity
  • Mechanical
  • Building and Construction
  • Speech Recognition
  • Active Learning
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Persuasion
  • Complex Problem Solving

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Word processing software .

Specific to Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

Specific to Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators or Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators vs Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/industrial-truck-and-tractor-operators-vs-excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators vs Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/industrial-truck-and-tractor-operators-vs-excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-industrial-truck-and-tractor-operators-vs-excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining,
  title  = {Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators vs Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/industrial-truck-and-tractor-operators-vs-excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.