Material Moving Workers

How to become a Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loader

Official title: Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders

Also called: Load Out Person, Loader, Loader Operator, Loading Operator, Oil Movements Operator, PVC Loader (Polyvinyl Chloride Loader), Rail Car Loader, Tank Car Loader, Tankerman, Truck Loader

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.

Main tasks

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.

How to become one

Typical education to start: No formal educational credential

Ways in

Apprenticeship: Pumper-Gauger.

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

Median pay: $58,870 a year The middle half earn $46,300 to $70,060.
About 12,800 people work in this job now, and about 13,200 are projected by 2035. (+2.8%)
People use generative AI for relatively little of this work so far. Microsoft Research rates its AI applicability as low.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loader?

Ways in include: Pumper-Gauger.

How much does a Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loader earn in the US?

Median full-time pay is $58,870 a year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). The middle half earn $46,300 to $70,060.

Is a Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loader a growing career in the US?

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 3% by 2035, from about 12,800 to about 13,200 people (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Do you need a degree to become a Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loader?

Usually not. Only 7% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Pumper-Gauger.

Will AI change the work of a Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loader?

People use generative AI for relatively little of this work so far. Microsoft Research rates its AI applicability as low.

Sources

Microsoft Research: Working with AI: AI applicability by occupation (2025-12-22 (built on O*NET 29.0)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employment Projections (2025-35 (released 2026-08-27)), Public domain (BLS), retrieved 2026-10-03
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), Public domain (BLS), retrieved 2026-10-03

Updated 2026-10-03

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.