How to become a Special Purpose Vehicle Driver

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 专用车辆驾驶员

Also called: Heavy Mine Truck Driver, Explosives Truck Driver, Airport Ground Vehicle Operator, Water Truck Driver

Drives and operates special vehicles such as heavy mine trucks and airport ground vehicles to do specific jobs in particular areas.

Main tasks

• Checking the vehicle, refuelling and pumping up tyres
• Driving heavy mine trucks to carry ore from the pit to stockpiles or waste dumps
• Driving explosives trucks to take ammonium nitrate or emulsion to mines and other blasting sites, mixing the explosive on site and loading it into blast holes
• Driving water trucks to spray pit faces and haul roads to keep dust and heat down
• Driving apron buses, passenger stairs, catering trucks, baggage conveyors, accessible boarding vehicles and cargo loaders to serve passengers
• Driving aircraft tugs and de icing vehicles to tow or de ice aircraft
• Driving ground power units, air start units, oxygen carts, air conditioning units, waste trucks, toilet service trucks and water trucks to supply aircraft with air, power, oxygen, water and so on
• Maintaining vehicles and fixing faults

Pay · AI and this job

• Median pay in China: CN¥74,600 a year (2025).
• Middle half: CN¥56,600 to CN¥104,700. One in ten earn less than CN¥43,900 and one in ten more than CN¥153,100.
• This is the figure for the mid group Transport Equipment and General Construction Machinery Operators and Related Workers, not for this job alone.
• National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
• Guangzhou only: median CN¥84,484 a year (2025), middle half CN¥62,435 to CN¥99,175.
• This is the figure for the minor group Special Vehicle Operators, not for this job alone.
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• The census group Transport Equipment and General Construction Machinery Operators and Related Workers holds 0.67% of everyone employed in China; 7.5% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
• 42.9% are under 35, 50.5% are 35 to 54 and 6.6% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 35 to 39.
• Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

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Questions people ask

How much does a Special Purpose Vehicle Driver earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥74,600 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Transport Equipment and General Construction Machinery Operators and Related Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥84,484 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Special Purpose Vehicle Driver?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
• Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau: Guangzhou 2025 labour market wage prices (P10 to P90 annual CNY by occupation) (2025 (enterprise pay survey)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.

Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.

Updated 5 October 2026