Explore by Career/Transportation and Material Moving
Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders
Load and unload chemicals and bulk solids, such as coal, sand, and grain, into or from tank cars, trucks, or ships, using material moving equipment. May perform a variety of other tasks relating to shipment of products. May gauge or sample shipping tanks and test them for leaks.
- Median pay
- $58,070
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- +4.3%
- Stable
- Typical entry
- No formal educational credential
Key skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Reading Comprehension
- Time Management
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
What they do
- Seal outlet valves on tank cars, barges, and trucks.
- Verify tank car, barge, or truck load numbers to ensure car placement accuracy based on written or verbal instructions.
- Start pumps and adjust valves or cables to regulate the flow of products to vessels, using knowledge of loading procedures.
- Check conditions and weights of vessels to ensure cleanliness and compliance with loading procedures.
- Observe positions of cars passing loading spouts, and swing spouts into the correct positions at the appropriate times.
- Monitor product movement to and from storage tanks, coordinating activities with other workers to ensure constant product flow.
- Operate ship loading and unloading equipment, conveyors, hoists, and other specialized material handling equipment such as railroad tank car unloading equipment.
- Record operating data such as products and quantities pumped, gauge readings, and operating times, manually or using computers.
- Operate industrial trucks, tractors, loaders, and other equipment to transport materials to and from transportation vehicles and loading docks, and to store and retrieve materials in warehouses.
- Connect ground cables to carry off static electricity when unloading tanker cars.
Majors that lead here
No mapped majors yet.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.