Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining
Operate underground loading or moving machine to load or move coal, ore, or rock using shuttle or mine car or conveyors. Equipment may include power shovels, hoisting engines equipped with cable-drawn scraper or scoop, or machines equipped with gathering arms and conveyor.
5,930 people do this job in the US. $74,500 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 5%
- 0%
- 95%
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, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 5%. Today's estimate: 5%.
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 . 25 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean, fuel, service, and perform safety checks on all equipment, and repair and replace parts as necessary.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Handle high voltage sources and hang electrical cables.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 11% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Examine roadway and clear obstructions from the path of travel.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Monitor loading processes to ensure that materials are loaded according to specifications.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Drive loaded shuttle cars to ramps and move controls to discharge loads into mine cars or onto conveyors.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people | |
| Advance machines to gather material and convey it into cars.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean hoppers, and clean spillage from tracks, walks, driveways, and conveyor decking.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min8 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Measure, weigh, or verify levels of rock, gravel, or other excavated material to prevent equipment overloads.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 8 min3 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Replace hydraulic hoses, headlight bulbs, and gathering-arm teeth.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Pry off loose material from roofs and move it into the paths of machines, using crowbars.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 29 min | Stays with people | |
| Oil, lubricate, and adjust conveyors, crushers, and other equipment, using hand tools and lubricating equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate levers to move conveyor booms or shovels so that mine contents such as coal, rock, and ore can be placed into cars or onto conveyors.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 7 min3 min to 17 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.
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining10% now, 10% by 2028
- Continuous Mining Machine Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Hoist and Winch Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders20% now, 20% by 2028
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators9% now, 9% 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).