Conveyor Operators and Tenders
Control or tend conveyors or conveyor systems that move materials or products to and from stockpiles, processing stations, departments, or vehicles. May control speed and routing of materials or products.
22,930 people do this job in the US. $42,420 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 9%
- 0%
- 91%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 3%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 9%. Today's estimate: 9%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 23 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean, sterilize, and maintain equipment, machinery, and work stations, using hand tools, shovels, brooms, chemicals, hoses, and lubricants.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Load, unload, or adjust materials or products on conveyors by hand, by using lifts, hoists, and scoops, or by opening gates, chutes, or hoppers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 11% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Operate elevator systems in conjunction with conveyor systems.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Observe conveyor operations and monitor lights, dials, and gauges to maintain specified operating levels and to detect equipment malfunctions.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Observe packages moving along conveyors to identify packages, detect defective packaging, and perform quality control.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 17 min7 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Repair or replace equipment components or parts such as blades, rolls, and pumps.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Stop equipment or machinery and clear jams, using poles, bars, and hand tools, or remove damaged materials from conveyors.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Move, assemble, and connect hoses or nozzles to material hoppers, storage tanks, conveyor sections or chutes, and pumps.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min8 min to 42 min | Stays with people | |
| Record production data such as weights, types, quantities, and storage locations of materials, as well as equipment performance problems and downtime.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 29 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Position deflector bars, gates, chutes, or spouts to divert flow of materials from one conveyor onto another conveyor.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Join sections of conveyor frames at temporary working areas, and connect power units.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate consoles to control automatic palletizing equipment.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min7 min to 50 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Machine Feeders and Offbearers5% now, 5% by 2028
- Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders20% now, 20% by 2028
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Hoist and Winch Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers5% now, 5% by 2028
- Industrial Machinery Mechanics15% now, 17% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).