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Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders in Massachusetts

Thinking about a career as a Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders in Massachusetts? Here’s what the data says. 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 Make in Massachusetts?

For a tank car, truck, and ship loaders working in Massachusetts, wages run about $74,060 per year (or roughly $35.60/hour).Earnings range from $57,110 at the 10th percentile to $81,910 at the 90th percentile.

Wage Statistic	Annual	Hourly
10th percentile	$57,110	$27.46
25th percentile	$61,050	$29.35
Median (50th)	$74,060	$35.60
75th percentile	$78,750	$37.86
90th percentile	$81,910	$39.38

The job concentration index in Massachusetts compared to the national average — is 0.71, indicating fewer tank car, truck, and ship loaders per worker than the national average.

National Wage Comparison

Nationally, tank car, truck, and ship loaders earn a median of $27,539 per year ($13.24/hour), higher than the Massachusetts median.

Employment Outlook

Nationally, total employment in this occupation is 1,402,082 tank car, truck, and ship loaders nationwide. In Massachusetts alone, approximately 180 people work in this role. That’s higher than the typical state, which employs around 170 tank car, truck, and ship loaders.

Top Massachusetts Metros for Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders

These are the Massachusetts metros with the most tank car, truck, and ship loaders in Massachusetts.

Metro Area	Number Employed	Annual Median Salary
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	130	$77,440
Worcester, MA	50	$70,090

Top States for Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders Employment

The table below shows the states where the most tank car, truck, and ship loaders work.

State	Number Employed
Texas	2,580
Louisiana	1,070
Florida	820
Ohio	790
Illinois	360
Kentucky	360
Indiana	340
North Dakota	330
Iowa	260
Alabama	220
Massachusetts	180
Oklahoma	180
California	170
Colorado	170
West Virginia	170
Missouri	170
Maryland	150
Michigan	140
Tennessee	140
Pennsylvania	130

Highest-Paying States for Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders

Where tank car, truck, and ship loaders earn the most: tank car, truck, and ship loaders.

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

Skills

Key tank car, truck, and ship loaders skills, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

Core knowledge areas for this occupation, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Abilities

The abilities that matter most for tank car, truck, and ship loaders, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Daily Tasks

Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders typically:

• 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.
• 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.
• Connect ground cables to carry off static electricity when unloading tanker cars.
• Copy and attach load specifications to loaded tanks.
• Remove and replace tank car dome caps, or direct other workers in their removal and replacement.

Work Activities

• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Getting Information
• Processing Information
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Documenting/Recording Information
• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
• Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment
• Handling and Moving Objects
• Performing General Physical Activities
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events

Tools & Technology

Software and systems commonly involved: Hot technologies: Linux

Related Careers

Related occupations to tank car, truck, and ship loaders include:

• Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
• Continuous Mining Machine Operators
• Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining
• Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
• Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines
• Industrial Machinery Mechanics

Also Known As

Barge Loader, Barges Loader, Bulk Tank Car Unloader, Car Loader, Car Unloader, Caustics Loader, Coal Dumping Equipment Operator, Dock Loader, Load Out Person, Loader, Loader Operator, Loading Operator, Oil Movements Operator, PVC Loader (Polyvinyl Chloride Loader), PVC Monitor (Polyvinyl Chloride Monitor).

References

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — https://www.bls.gov/oes/
• O*NET Online — https://www.onetonline.org/
• BLS Employment Projections — https://www.bls.gov/emp/
• O*NET-SOC code: 53-7121.00