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What can industrial truck and tractor operators switch to?

The closest match is roustabouts, oil and gas, paying about 1% more at the median. 9 jobs in all use similar skills with less of the shift touched by AI or robots.

Time card for roustabouts, oil and gas: 28m of an 8-hour shift touched by AI or robotsTime card: Roustabouts, Oil and Gas →

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What can industrial truck and tractor operators switch to? AI or robots touch about 7h 41m of a typical 8-hour shift for industrial truck and tractor operators, nearly all of it on tasks AI or robots have done on their own somewhere. The jobs below use many of the same skills, and less of their day is touched today. The closest fit is roustabouts, oil and gas: 28m touched, with median pay about the same.

Matches come from O*NET's ratings of the skills, knowledge and work activities each job uses. "To build up" lists the skills each option rates as clearly more important than industrial truck and tractor operators do today. "Touched" is time on tasks with documented AI use or robots working in real workplaces. Treat these as starting points: pay, openings and requirements differ by state.

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Same training or less

HumanWith AIAIRobot
  1. Roustabouts, Oil and GasClose skills · 28m touched (vs 7h 41m) · $47k · +3.6% by 2035 · little or no preparationShared skills: Equipment Maintenance, Operation and Control, TroubleshootingTo build up: Quality Control Analysis
  2. Wellhead PumpersClose skills · 2h 47m touched (vs 7h 41m) · $70k · -2% by 2035 · high school diploma, some trainingShared skills: Operation and Control, Equipment Maintenance, TroubleshootingTo build up: Repairing, Complex Problem Solving, Operations Monitoring
  3. Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersClose skills · 1h 18m touched (vs 7h 41m) · $48k · +2.5% by 2035 · high school diploma, some trainingShared skills: Equipment Maintenance, Troubleshooting, Operation and ControlTo build up: Quality Control Analysis, Repairing
  4. Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment OperatorsClose skills · 5h 28m touched (vs 7h 41m) · $60k · +4.6% by 2035 · high school diploma, some trainingShared skills: Operation and Control, Equipment Maintenance, TroubleshootingNo big skill gaps
  5. Tire BuildersClose skills · 0m touched (vs 7h 41m) · $57k · +0.8% by 2035 · high school diploma, some trainingShared skills: Operation and Control, Operations Monitoring, Equipment SelectionNo big skill gaps
  6. Metal Pourers and CastersClose skills · 2h 54m touched (vs 7h 41m) · $52k · -5% by 2035 · high school diploma, some trainingShared skills: Equipment Maintenance, Operation and Control, Operations MonitoringNo big skill gaps
  7. Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersRelated skills · 1h 19m touched (vs 7h 41m) · $47k · -0.9% by 2035 · high school diploma, some trainingShared skills: Operation and Control, Equipment Maintenance, TroubleshootingTo build up: Quality Control Analysis, Monitoring, Operations Monitoring
  8. Refractory Materials RepairersRelated skills · 20m touched (vs 7h 41m) · $61k · -13.7% by 2035 · high school diploma, some trainingShared skills: Equipment Maintenance, Troubleshooting, Operations MonitoringTo build up: Repairing

With more training

  1. Crane and Tower OperatorsRelated skills · 52m touched (vs 7h 41m) · $68k · +3.8% by 2035 · vocational school or associate's degreeShared skills: Operation and Control, Equipment Maintenance, TroubleshootingTo build up: Critical Thinking, Operations Monitoring

Before you switch

See the full time card for industrial truck and tractor operators first: many tasks there still need a person, and learning AI tools for the rest can be its own way forward. For pay where you live, open any job above and pick your state.