Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
Operate one or several types of power construction equipment, such as motor graders, bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks, shovels, tractors, or front-end loaders to excavate, move, and grade earth, erect structures, or pour concrete or other hard surface pavement. May repair and maintain equipment in addition to other duties.
478,090 people do this job in the US. $59,850 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, 0%. 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 . 26 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drive and maneuver equipment equipped with blades in successive passes over working areas to remove topsoil, vegetation, or rocks or to distribute and level earth or terrain.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 20% | 1.7 h25 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate tractors or bulldozers to perform such tasks as clearing land, mixing sludge, trimming backfills, or building roadways or parking lots.Done daily by most who do it. | 20% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Load and move dirt, rocks, equipment, or other materials, using trucks, crawler tractors, power cranes, shovels, graders, or related equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 18% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Learn and follow safety regulations.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 1.7 h | 98%Half by now | |
| Operate loaders to pull out stumps, rip asphalt or concrete, rough-grade properties, bury refuse, or perform general cleanup.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Start engines, move throttles, switches, or levers, or depress pedals to operate machines, such as bulldozers, trench excavators, road graders, or backhoes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Repair and maintain equipment, making emergency adjustments or assisting with major repairs as necessary.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Monitor operations to ensure that health and safety standards are met.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Coordinate machine actions with other activities, positioning or moving loads in response to hand or audio signals from crew members.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate equipment to demolish or remove debris or to remove snow from streets, roads, or parking lots.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 2% | 1.7 h25 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Talk to clients and study instructions, plans, or diagrams to establish work requirements.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | 95%Half by now | |
| Adjust handwheels and depress pedals to control attachments, such as blades, buckets, scrapers, or swing booms.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 2% | 17 min8 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.
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining10% now, 10% by 2028
- Hoist and Winch Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines5% now, 5% by 2028
- Continuous Mining Machine Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Crane and Tower Operators8% now, 8% 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).