Logging Equipment Operators
Drive logging tractor or wheeled vehicle equipped with one or more accessories, such as bulldozer blade, frontal shear, grapple, logging arch, cable winches, hoisting rack, or crane boom, to fell tree; to skid, load, unload, or stack logs; or to pull stumps or clear brush. Includes operating stand-alone logging machines, such as log chippers.
21,060 people do this job in the US. $49,740 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 2%
- 0%
- 98%
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, 2%. Today's estimate: 2%.
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 . 9 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drive and maneuver tractors and tree harvesters to shear the tops off of trees, cut and limb the trees, and cut the logs into desired lengths.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 18% | 1.3 h33 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Drive straight or articulated tractors equipped with accessories such as bulldozer blades, grapples, logging arches, cable winches, and crane booms to skid, load, unload, or stack logs, pull stumps, or clear brush.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 17% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Control hydraulic tractors equipped with tree clamps and booms to lift, swing, and bunch sheared trees.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 17% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Grade logs according to characteristics such as knot size and straightness, and according to established industry or company standards.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 16% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Drive tractors for building or repairing logging and skid roads.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 16% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Drive crawler or wheeled tractors to drag or transport logs from felling sites to log landing areas for processing and loading.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 11% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect equipment for safety prior to use, and perform necessary basic maintenance tasks.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Calculate total board feet, cordage, or other wood measurement units, using conversion tables.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 2% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Fill out required job or shift report forms.Done daily by most who do it. | 0.8% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | 100%Half by now |
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.
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators9% now, 9% by 2028
- Continuous Mining Machine Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining5% now, 5% by 2028
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining10% now, 10% by 2028
- Hoist and Winch Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators0% now, 0% 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).