Transportation and Material Moving · Holland code RCE

Conveyor Operators and Tenders

Control or tend conveyors or conveyor systems that move materials or products to and from stockpiles, processing stations, departments, or vehicles. May control speed and routing of materials or products.

Also called: Chipper Operator, Machine Operator, Packaging Line Operator, Process Operator, Conveyor Operator, Conveyor Tender, Flumer, Package Line Operator.

O*NET 53-7011.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $42,420; Middle half earn $38,180 to $48,530. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Less than a High School Diploma; 70% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Manipulate controls, levers, and valves to start pumps, auxiliary equipment, or conveyors, and to adjust equipment positions, speeds, timing, and material flows.
Stop equipment or machinery and clear jams, using poles, bars, and hand tools, or remove damaged materials from conveyors.
Load, unload, or adjust materials or products on conveyors by hand, by using lifts, hoists, and scoops, or by opening gates, chutes, or hoppers.
Observe conveyor operations and monitor lights, dials, and gauges to maintain specified operating levels and to detect equipment malfunctions.
Distribute materials, supplies, and equipment to work stations, using lifts and trucks.
Press console buttons to deflect packages to predetermined accumulators or reject lines.
Thread strapping through strapping tools and secure battens with strapping to form protective pallets around extrusions.
Observe packages moving along conveyors to identify packages, detect defective packaging, and perform quality control.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Monitoring3.4 / 5
Active Listening3.1 / 5
Speaking3.0 / 5
Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.9 / 5
Writing2.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

English Language4.0 / 5
Mechanical3.1 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.0 / 5
Production and Processing3.0 / 5
Transportation2.8 / 5
Education and Training2.6 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic86
Investigative6
Artistic0
Social3
Enterprising26
Conventional66

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Plant and machine operatives n.e.c. (8139)22,500 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Plant and machine operators and assemblers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Plant and machine operators and assemblers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€39,630
Netherlands	€37,567
Austria	€37,304
Sweden	€36,005
Germany	€34,433
Ireland	€32,617
France	€28,550
Italy	€28,330
Spain	€24,409
Portugal	€11,309
Poland	€10,259

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.76. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (53-7011).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test