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Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators Career, Salary and Skills

Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $46,420 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 774,420. Wage data is published for 438 locations.

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Occupation description

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

O*NET code

53-7051.00

Job zone

2

Typical education

High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)

Experience

Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years

National salary and employment

Median annual

$46,420

Hourly median

$22.32

Employment

774,420

Data year

2025

National salary distribution

$36,840
10th
$40,030
25th
$46,420
Median
$54,770
75th
$62,520
90th

Top skills

SkillImportanceLevel
Operation and Control3.883.00
Operations Monitoring3.252.88
Equipment Maintenance3.002.62
Troubleshooting3.002.50
Time Management3.002.25
Coordination3.003.00
Reading Comprehension2.882.50
Active Listening2.882.50
Critical Thinking2.752.25
Monitoring2.752.62
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Typical tasks

  • 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.
  • Move controls to drive gasoline- or electric-powered trucks, cars, or tractors and transport materials between loading, processing, and storage areas.
  • 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.
  • Inspect product load for accuracy and safely move it around the warehouse or facility to ensure timely and complete delivery.
  • Weigh materials or products and record weight or other production data on tags or labels.
  • Perform routine maintenance on vehicles or auxiliary equipment, such as cleaning, lubricating, recharging batteries, fueling, or replacing liquefied-gas tank.
  • Operate or tend automatic stacking, loading, packaging, or cutting machines.
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Technology

  • Argos Software ABECAS Insight WMS
  • ATMS StockTrack PLUS
  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • BarControl Enterprise Manager iBEM
  • IntelliTrack Warehouse Management System (WMS)
  • Inventory management systems
  • Lilly Software Associates VISUAL DCMS
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft Word
  • Motek Priya
  • RedPrairie DLx Warehouse
  • SAP software
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Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators salary by location

Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.

All 438 locations →

Related careers

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Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.