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Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand vs Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand and Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators 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.”

Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$38,940
$46,390
Employment · BLS OEWS
2,982,530
805,770
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
12th pct
2nd pct

At a glance

Dimension Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
Median pay $38,940 $46,390
Employment 2,982,530 805,770
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+1.5%) About average (+1.1%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 384,300 76,400
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 · 12th pct Low · 2nd pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 6th pct · 12% of tasks 33rd pct · 20% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No 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: Static Strength, Trunk Strength, Multilimb Coordination, Oral Comprehension, Manual Dexterity, Extent Flexibility, Near Vision, Production and Processing, Mathematics, Coordination, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Deductive Reasoning, Selective Attention, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Control Precision, Far Vision, English Language, Active Listening, Information Ordering, Finger Dexterity, Rate Control, Reaction Time, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Monitoring, Visualization, Depth Perception.

Specific to Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand

  • Administration and Management
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Transportation
  • Stamina
  • Dynamic Strength
  • Written Comprehension
  • Category Flexibility

Specific to Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

  • Operation and Control
  • Response Orientation
  • Operations Monitoring
  • Perceptual Speed
  • Spatial Orientation
  • Auditory Attention
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Troubleshooting

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: Computer aided design CAD software , Word processing software , Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Enterprise resource planning ERP software , Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software , Inventory management software .

Specific to Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand

Specific to Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand or Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators — 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. "Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand vs Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators." 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; 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/laborers-and-freight-stock-and-material-movers-hand-vs-industrial-truck-and-tractor-operators

    APA

    Singulariki. (2026). Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand vs Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/laborers-and-freight-stock-and-material-movers-hand-vs-industrial-truck-and-tractor-operators

    BibTeX 
    @misc{singulariki-laborers-and-freight-stock-and-material-movers-hand-vs-industrial-truck-and-tractor-operators,
  title  = {Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand vs Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; 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/laborers-and-freight-stock-and-material-movers-hand-vs-industrial-truck-and-tractor-operators}
}

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