Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders
Load and unload chemicals and bulk solids, such as coal, sand, and grain, into or from tank cars, trucks, or ships, using material moving equipment. May perform a variety of other tasks relating to shipment of products. May gauge or sample shipping tanks and test them for leaks.
10,700 people do this job in the US. $58,870 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 20%
- 0%
- 80%
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, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 19%. Today's estimate: 20%.
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 . 19 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monitor product movement to and from storage tanks, coordinating activities with other workers to ensure constant product flow.Done daily by most who do it. | 15% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | 95%Half by now | |
| Operate ship loading and unloading equipment, conveyors, hoists, and other specialized material handling equipment such as railroad tank car unloading equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 13% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Test vessels for leaks, damage, and defects, and repair or replace defective parts as necessary.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Check conditions and weights of vessels to ensure cleanliness and compliance with loading procedures.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Operate industrial trucks, tractors, loaders, and other equipment to transport materials to and from transportation vehicles and loading docks, and to store and retrieve materials in warehouses.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Operate conveyors and equipment to transfer grain or other materials from transportation vehicles.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Start pumps and adjust valves or cables to regulate the flow of products to vessels, using knowledge of loading procedures.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 21 min13 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Record operating data such as products and quantities pumped, gauge readings, and operating times, manually or using computers.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 29 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Observe positions of cars passing loading spouts, and swing spouts into the correct positions at the appropriate times.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 29 min | Stays with people | |
| Unload cars containing liquids by connecting hoses to outlet plugs and pumping compressed air into cars to force liquids into storage tanks.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform general warehouse activities, such as opening containers and crates, filling warehouse orders, assisting in taking inventory, and weighing and checking materials.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Remove and replace tank car dome caps, or direct other workers in their removal and replacement.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 29 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
- Conveyor Operators and Tenders9% now, 9% by 2028
- Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand11% now, 11% by 2028
- Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers29% now, 29% by 2028
- Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining5% now, 5% by 2028
- Hoist and Winch 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).