---
title: "Industrial Truck and Tractor Operator"
description: "Operate industrial trucks or tractors equipped to move materials around a warehouse, storage yard, factory, construction site, or similar location."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-truck-and-tractor-operator"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Industrial Truck and Tractor Operator

**Category:** Transportation and Material Moving · **SOC code:** 53-7051 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 53-7051.00

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

Also advertised as: Checker Loader; Fork Lift Technician; Fork Truck Driver; Forklift Driver; Forklift Operator; Lift Truck Operator; Shag Truck Driver; Spotter Driver.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $46,420 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $22.32/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $36,840 to $62,520, with the middle half between $40,030 and $54,770
- **Total US employment:** 774,420
- **Typical entry education:** No formal credential
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +1.1% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 76,400 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 62/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 774,420 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $36,840 |
| 25th | $40,030 |
| 50th (median) | $46,420 |
| 75th | $54,770 |
| 90th | $62,520 |
| Mean (average) | $48,370 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $83,720 | $76,178 | Not published by BLS |
| NM | $62,150 | $67,399 | 2,620 |
| DE | $60,350 | $60,466 | 5,230 |
| WY | $59,820 | $64,537 | 790 |
| NH | $54,460 | $52,282 | 1,450 |
| AK | $54,190 | $52,941 | 410 |
| HI | $53,640 | $48,785 | 880 |
| OR | $50,760 | $49,109 | 8,560 |
| CO | $50,570 | $49,072 | 8,570 |
| WA | $49,910 | $46,639 | 18,750 |
| MN | $49,740 | $50,436 | 7,110 |
| ND | $49,260 | $55,374 | 930 |
| UT | $49,040 | $49,603 | 6,830 |
| NY | $49,030 | $45,431 | 18,420 |
| LA | $48,950 | $55,494 | 7,680 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-truck-and-tractor-operator/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/industrial-truck-and-tractor-operator.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 792,500 in the 2024–2034 base year to 801,600 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 9,100 jobs, or +1.1%. Slower than average: 1.1% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 76,400 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** No formal educational credential (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma | 73.4% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 22.5% |
| Some College Courses | 4.1% |

## What the work involves

- Manually or mechanically load or unload materials from pallets, skids, platforms, cars, lifting devices, or other transport vehicles.
- Inspect product load for accuracy and safely move it around the warehouse or facility to ensure timely and complete delivery.
- 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.
- Position lifting devices under, over, or around loaded pallets, skids, or boxes and secure material or products for transport to designated areas.
- Move controls to drive gasoline- or electric-powered trucks, cars, or tractors and transport materials between loading, processing, and storage areas.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operation and Control — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Equipment Maintenance — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Mathematics — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Transportation — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Control Precision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Multilimb Coordination — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Far Vision — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Response Orientation — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Rate Control — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 3.71 |
| I — Investigative | 1.78 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.23 |
| S — Social | 1.11 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 87.0 |
| ISTP | 75.7 |
| ISFJ | 73.1 |
| ESTJ | 72.2 |
| INTJ | 63.7 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Hoist and Winch Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/hoist-and-winch-operator) — median $56,450
- [Crane and Tower Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/crane-and-tower-operator) — median $68,080
- [Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loader](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tank-car-truck-and-ship-loader) — median $58,870
- [Loading and Moving Machine Operator, Underground Mining](https://nuecareer.com/careers/loading-and-moving-machine-operator-underground-mining) — median $74,500
- [Operating Engineer and Other Construction Equipment Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/operating-engineer-and-other-construction-equipment-operator) — median $59,850
- [Laborer and Freight, Stock, and Material Mover, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/laborer-and-freight-stock-and-material-mover-hand) — median $40,240
- [Pile Driver Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/pile-driver-operator) — median $73,300
- [Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operator, Surface Mining](https://nuecareer.com/careers/excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operator-surface-mining) — median $57,430
- [Rigger](https://nuecareer.com/careers/rigger) — median $62,640
- [Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanic, Except Engines](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mobile-heavy-equipment-mechanic) — median $65,510

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/industrial-truck-and-tractor-operator