Log Graders and Scalers
Grade logs or estimate the marketable content or value of logs or pulpwood in sorting yards, millpond, log deck, or similar locations. Inspect logs for defects or measure logs to determine volume.
3,070 people do this job in the US. $46,330 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 6%
- 0%
- 94%
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, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 6%. Today's estimate: 6%.
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 . 12 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evaluate log characteristics and determine grades, using established criteria.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 19% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Measure felled logs or loads of pulpwood to calculate volume, weight, dimensions, and marketable value, using measuring devices and conversion tables.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 14% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Jab logs with metal ends of scale sticks, and inspect logs to ascertain characteristics or defects such as water damage, splits, knots, broken ends, rotten areas, twists, and curves.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 13% | 15 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Record data about individual trees or load volumes into tally books or hand-held collection terminals.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 11% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Identify logs of substandard or special grade so that they can be returned to shippers, regraded, recut, or transferred for other processing.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 10% | 13 min7 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Paint identification marks of specified colors on logs to identify grades or species, using spray cans, or call out grades to log markers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 10 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Measure log lengths and mark boles for bucking into logs, according to specifications.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Arrange for hauling of logs to appropriate mill sites.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Drive to sawmills, wharfs, or skids to inspect logs or pulpwood.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Saw felled trees into lengths.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Weigh log trucks before and after unloading, and record load weights and supplier identities.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 10 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people | |
| Communicate with coworkers by signals to direct log movement.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 2% | 4 min2 min to 13 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.
- Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping21% now, 21% by 2028
- Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers28% now, 30% by 2028
- Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products7% now, 7% by 2028
- Logging Equipment Operators2% now, 2% by 2028
- Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand11% now, 11% by 2028
- Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic18% now, 18% 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).