# Crane and Tower Operators

> Operate mechanical boom and cable or tower and cable equipment to lift and move materials, machines, or products in many directions.

- **SOC code:** 53-7021.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-53-7021-00
- **Also known as:** Crane Operator, Mobile Crane Operator, Overhead Crane Operator, Scrap Crane Operator, Heavy Equipment Operator, Machine Operator, Port Crane Operator, Winchman
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Determine load weights and check them against lifting capacities to prevent overload.
- Move levers, depress foot pedals, or turn dials to operate cranes, cherry pickers, electromagnets, or other moving equipment for lifting, moving, or placing loads.
- Inspect and adjust crane mechanisms or lifting accessories to prevent malfunctions or damage.
- Inspect cables or grappling devices for wear and install or replace cables, as needed.
- Direct helpers engaged in placing blocking or outrigging under cranes.
- Clean, lubricate, and maintain mechanisms such as cables, pulleys, or grappling devices, making repairs, as necessary.
- Load or unload bundles from trucks, or move containers to storage bins, using moving equipment.
- Inspect bundle packaging for conformance to regulations or customer requirements, and remove and batch packaging tickets.
- Review daily work or delivery schedules to determine orders, sequences of deliveries, or special loading instructions.
- Direct truck drivers backing vehicles into loading bays and cover, uncover, or secure loads for delivery.
- Weigh bundles, using floor scales, and record weights for company records.

**Emerging tasks** (O*NET):
- Inspect crane site conditions to determine ground stability.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Control Precision _(ability)_
- Multilimb Coordination _(ability)_
- Operation and Control _(transferable_skill)_
- Far Vision _(ability)_
- Depth Perception _(ability)_
- Operations Monitoring _(transferable_skill)_
- Rate Control _(ability)_
- Reaction Time _(ability)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Arm-Hand Steadiness _(ability)_
- Mechanical _(knowledge)_
- Selective Attention _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Depth Perception _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Visualization _(Specialized Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Windows _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Windows _(hot technology)_
- Crane operation control software
- Inventory tracking software

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 20th percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 16th percentile (Low) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 30th percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 19th percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 78th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 3.0% growth (About average); 3.8k annual openings; 42.3k → 43.5k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $66,370; 42,000 employed.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-53-7021-00_