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Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders: Career Overview
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.
What Do Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders Do?
The core tasks performed by tank car, truck, and ship loaders span:
- Seal outlet valves on tank cars, barges, and trucks.
- Verify tank car, barge, or truck load numbers to ensure car placement accuracy based on written or verbal instructions.
- Start pumps and adjust valves or cables to regulate the flow of products to vessels, using knowledge of loading procedures.
- Check conditions and weights of vessels to ensure cleanliness and compliance with loading procedures.
- Observe positions of cars passing loading spouts, and swing spouts into the correct positions at the appropriate times.
- Monitor product movement to and from storage tanks, coordinating activities with other workers to ensure constant product flow.
- Operate ship loading and unloading equipment, conveyors, hoists, and other specialized material handling equipment such as railroad tank car unloading equipment.
- Record operating data such as products and quantities pumped, gauge readings, and operating times, manually or using computers.
What Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders Need to Know
Top tank car, truck, and ship loaders rely on a mix of skills and domain knowledge.
Key Skills
The competencies most important for this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:
Core Knowledge
Types of Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders Jobs
Common job titles for this role include:
- Barge Loader
- Barges Loader
- Bulk Tank Car Unloader
- Car Loader
- Car Unloader
- Caustics Loader
- Coal Dumping Equipment Operator
- Dock Loader
How Many Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders Are There?
There are about 1,402,082 tank car, truck, and ship loaders working in the United States today. Employment is projected to grow by +8.5% over the projection horizon.
Salary for Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual median | $27,539 |
| Hourly median | $13.24 |
| 10th percentile | $20,000 |
| 25th percentile | $22,573 |
| 75th percentile | $32,506 |
| 90th percentile | $37,473 |
Pay can vary substantially based on experience, location, and industry.
Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders Salary by State
| State | Annual median salary |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $85,260 |
| Alaska | $83,330 |
| Maryland | $79,860 |
| South Carolina | $79,250 |
| Massachusetts | $74,060 |
| Illinois | $67,600 |
| Florida | $67,340 |
| Kentucky | $66,640 |
| New Hampshire | $63,220 |
| Pennsylvania | $62,850 |
| Louisiana | $62,300 |
| Missouri | $61,560 |
| California | $59,510 |
| Texas | $59,430 |
| Michigan | $59,370 |
| New Jersey | $59,050 |
| North Dakota | $58,450 |
| Maine | $58,320 |
| Tennessee | $57,250 |
| Nebraska | $57,210 |
| West Virginia | $56,620 |
| Iowa | $56,160 |
| Wisconsin | $54,560 |
| Ohio | $51,580 |
| Indiana | $49,280 |
| Utah | $47,540 |
| New York | $45,110 |
| North Carolina | $43,990 |
| Arkansas | $41,230 |
| Colorado | $40,320 |
| Georgia | $38,780 |
| Idaho | $38,460 |
| Oklahoma | $37,360 |
| Mississippi | $37,280 |
| Arizona | $35,110 |
Top-Paying U.S. Regions
Compensation for tank car, truck, and ship loaders vary by region. These regions lead on median pay:
| Region | Median annual wage | Share of U.S. jobs | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| New England | $71,198 | 2.4% | 0.74 |
| Middle Atlantic | $68,320 | 4.2% | 0.51 |
| Far Western US | $64,923 | 2.4% | 0.60 |
| Southeast | $64,775 | 31.8% | 3.89 |
| Plains States | $58,362 | 8.1% | 5.75 |
| Southwest | $57,990 | 29.5% | 2.56 |
| Great Lakes | $55,260 | 18.6% | 1.45 |
| Rocky Mountains | $40,802 | 3.1% | 0.89 |
Top Metro Areas
| Metro area | State | Median annual wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toledo, OH | OH | $105,520 | 90 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | PA | $81,280 | 40 |
| Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | RI | $80,920 | 110 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | MA | $77,440 | 130 |
| Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX | TX | $77,070 | 110 |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | KY | $75,470 | 150 |
| New Orleans-Metairie, LA | LA | $71,230 | 460 |
| Worcester, MA | MA | $70,090 | 50 |
Industry Breakdown
The largest employers of tank car, truck, and ship loaders are found across these industries:
| Industry | Employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation and Warehousing | 6,840 | $60,190 |
| Manufacturing | 1,840 | $57,150 |
| Wholesale Trade | 960 | $44,160 |
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction | 370 | $62,340 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 340 | $44,420 |
| Construction | 120 | $59,270 |
Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders work in the following industries:
Tech Stack
- Operating system software: Linux (hot technology)
- Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel (hot technology)
- Office suite software: Microsoft Office software (hot technology)
- Enterprise resource planning ERP software: SAP software (hot technology)
The Day-to-Day Environment
The work environment for tank car, truck, and ship loaders reflects the following characteristics:
- Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams
- Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions
- Consequence of Error
- Exposed to Contaminants
Education and Training
Most tank car, truck, and ship loaders positions require a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. This occupation sits in Some Preparation Needed (Job Zone 2), indicating the level of preparation typically expected.
Related Careers
Similar Occupations
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining (Primary-Long)
- Continuous Mining Machine Operators (Supplemental)
- Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining (Primary-Short)
- Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists (Supplemental)
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines (Primary-Long)
- Industrial Machinery Mechanics (Supplemental)
- Maintenance Workers, Machinery (Supplemental)
- Chemical Plant and System Operators (Supplemental)
References
Data on this page comes from the following authoritative sources:
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
- BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
- O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.
SOC code: 53-7121.00 (Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders).
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