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Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
Operate industrial trucks or tractors equipped to move materials around a warehouse, storage yard, factory, construction site, or similar location.
Also Known As:
Checker Loader
Fork Lift Technician
Fork Truck Driver
Forklift Driver
Forklift Operator
Lift Truck Operator
Shag Truck Driver
Spotter Driver
Tow Motor Operator
Truck Driver
Wages
Annual wages for Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators in United States
Job Outlook
Average
New job opportunities are likely in the future
United States
2033 Projected Employment
791,900
3% Change From 2023
Explore Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Manually or mechanically load or unload materials from pallets, skids, platforms, cars, lifting devices, or other transport vehicles.
- Position lifting devices under, over, or around loaded pallets, skids, or boxes and secure material or products for transport to designated areas.
- Operate or tend automatic stacking, loading, packaging, or cutting machines.
- Inspect product load for accuracy and safely move it around the warehouse or facility to ensure timely and complete delivery.
- Move controls to drive gasoline- or electric-powered trucks, cars, or tractors and transport materials between loading, processing, and storage areas.
- Perform routine maintenance on vehicles or auxiliary equipment, such as cleaning, lubricating, recharging batteries, fueling, or replacing liquefied-gas tank.
- Inspect product load for accuracy and safely move it around the warehouse or facility to ensure timely and complete delivery.
- Perform routine maintenance on vehicles or auxiliary equipment, such as cleaning, lubricating, recharging batteries, fueling, or replacing liquefied-gas tank.
- Move levers or controls that operate lifting devices, such as forklifts, lift beams with swivel-hooks, hoists, or elevating platforms, to load, unload, transport, or stack material.
- Turn valves and open chutes to dump, spray, or release materials from dump cars or storage bins into hoppers.
- Position lifting devices under, over, or around loaded pallets, skids, or boxes and secure material or products for transport to designated areas.
- Weigh materials or products and record weight or other production data on tags or labels.
- Weigh materials or products and record weight or other production data on tags or labels.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")