Heavy Equipment Operator: Loader

Median Annual Income

$45,300

Projected Job Growth

+8 %

Career Cluster(s)

Construction

Most Common Education Level

No formal educational credential

Perform tasks involving physical labor at construction sites. May operate hand and power tools of all types: air hammers, earth tampers, cement mixers, small mechanical hoists, surveying and measuring equipment, and a variety of other equipment and instruments. May clean and prepare sites, dig trenches, set braces to support the sides of excavations, erect scaffolding, and clean up rubble, debris, and other waste materials. May assist other craft workers.

Median Annual Income

$48,980

Projected Job Growth

+4 %

Career Cluster(s)

Construction

Most Common Education Level

High school diploma or equivalent

Operate equipment used for applying concrete, asphalt, or other materials to road beds, parking lots, or airport runways and taxiways or for tamping gravel, dirt, or other materials. Includes concrete and asphalt paving machine operators, form tampers, tamping machine operators, and stone spreader operators.

Median Annual Income

$63,550

Projected Job Growth

+5 %

Career Cluster(s)

Construction

Most Common Education Level

High school diploma or equivalent

Operate pile drivers mounted on skids, barges, crawler treads, or locomotive cranes to drive pilings for retaining walls, bulkheads, and foundations of structures such as buildings, bridges, and piers.

Median Annual Income

$50,050

Projected Job Growth

-1 %

Career Cluster(s)

Energy & Natural Resources

Most Common Education Level

High school diploma or equivalent

Operate or tend machinery at surface mining site, equipped with scoops, shovels, or buckets to excavate and load loose materials.

Median Annual Income

$61,420

Projected Job Growth

-2 %

Career Cluster(s)

Energy & Natural Resources

Most Common Education Level

No formal educational credential

Operate self-propelled mining machines that rip coal, metal and nonmetal ores, rock, stone, or sand from the mine face and load it onto conveyors, shuttle cars, or trucks in a continuous operation.

Median Annual Income

$61,900

Projected Job Growth

+9 %

Career Cluster(s)

Construction

Most Common Education Level

High school diploma or equivalent

Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul mobile mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic equipment, such as cranes, bulldozers, graders, and conveyors, used in construction, logging, and mining.

Median Annual Income

$62,980

Projected Job Growth

+5 %

Career Cluster(s)

Construction

Most Common Education Level

High school diploma or equivalent

Install, dismantle, or move machinery and heavy equipment according to layout plans, blueprints, or other drawings.

Median Annual Income

$64,690

Projected Job Growth

+4 %

Career Cluster(s)

Construction

Most Common Education Level

High school diploma or equivalent

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

Median Annual Income

$55,950

Projected Job Growth

-1 %

Career Cluster(s)

Construction

Most Common Education Level

No formal educational credential

Operate or tend hoists or winches to lift and pull loads using power-operated cable equipment.

Median Annual Income

$44,470

Projected Job Growth

+3 %

Career Cluster(s)

Supply Chain & Transportation

Most Common Education Level

No formal educational credential

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