What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called cat operator, cat tractor operator, caterpillar operator and caterpillar tractor operator.
$46,420
Median pay a year
774,420
People do this work
6
Resume lines ready for you
Real figures for this work, and lines you can use in your own resume. Where they come from is at the foot of this page.
An example
An Industrial Truck and Tractor Operator resume, filled in
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Operating vehicles or moving equipment
Marking materials for identification
Inspecting cargo areas for cleanliness
Weighing materials
Cleaning vehicles and components
Loading materials
Securing cargo
Moving supplies
Positioning material handling equipment
Operating packing or material processing
Operating moving or lifting equipment
Maintaining vehicles in good condition
Every line comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operator
Summary
Industrial truck and tractor operator moving materials in warehouses and construction sites, loading and unloading with forklifts and hoists, and performing routine vehicle maintenance
Experience
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operator
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Moved levers to operate forklifts and hoists to load and unload materials
Drove gasoline and electric trucks to transport materials between areas
Loaded and unloaded materials from pallets and other transport vehicles
Positioned lifting devices around loaded pallets and secured materials for transport
Inspected product loads for accuracy and moved them around the warehouse
Weighed materials and recorded data on tags or labels
Performed routine maintenance on vehicles, including cleaning and fueling
Skills
Hands-On Work
Operating vehicles or moving equipment, Cleaning vehicles and components, Loading materials, Securing cargo, Moving supplies, Positioning material handling equipment, Operating packing or material processing
Checking & Planning
Marking materials for identification, Inspecting cargo areas for cleanliness, Weighing materials
Tools and software
Warehouse management system WMS
Core Skills
Driver's license
Education
High School Diploma Your school, Year
Yours will not say this. You choose what matches your experience, and every line remains yours to confirm or change.
Nothing to write from scratch
What to put on an Industrial Truck and Tractor Operator resume
Real duties for this job, already written the way a resume reads. Inside Rung you choose the ones that were yours.
What did you do each day?
Choose what fits, or say your own.
Moved controls to drive trucksLoaded and unloaded materials manuallyPositioned lifting devices for transportInspected product load for accuracyWeighed materials and recorded dataPerformed routine maintenance on vehicles
becomes
On your resume
Operated trucks and lifting devices, maneuvering controls to transport materials safely.
Operated lifting devices to transport materials safely
These are written the way a resume line reads. Rung asks which ones are actually yours, keeps your own words, and never claims work you did not do.
Then it asks for one more thing
The line that could show more, and the fact that lands it.
Make it stronger
A few lines could show more. Each one is asked, and answered by choosing.
Add how often you transported materials.
The line
Operated trucks and lifting devices several times each shift to transport materials safely
Add how often you transported materials.
Pick one that fits
Several times each shiftMost of the dayDaily for multiple loads
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Show what improved once you operated the lifting devices.
The line
Operated lifting devices to transport materials safely
Show what improved once you operated the lifting devices.
Pick one that fits
Reduced loading time for deliveriesImproved safety during material handlingIncreased efficiency in the warehouse
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
The work itself
What an Industrial Truck and Tractor Operator does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Operate industrial trucks or tractors equipped to move materials around a warehouse, storage yard, factory, construction site, or similar location.
What it pays
How much does an Industrial Truck and Tractor Operator make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$40,030
Median
$46,420
75th percentile
$54,770
About 774,420 people do this work in the United States.
What it pays in each state
State
25th percentile
Median
75th percentile
AK
$40,800
$54,190
$65,880
AL
$37,320
$44,880
$51,000
AR
$37,200
$43,780
$49,780
AZ
$44,130
$48,110
$54,550
CA
$43,210
$47,770
$58,360
CO
$45,970
$50,570
$60,530
CT
$44,160
$47,190
$57,530
DC
$70,710
$83,720
$83,720
DE
$44,030
$60,350
$60,350
FL
$40,260
$48,370
$58,090
GA
$37,990
$43,210
$48,040
HI
$44,430
$53,640
$66,350
IA
$43,460
$47,590
$52,950
ID
$42,250
$46,600
$54,400
IL
$42,850
$47,720
$57,550
IN
$40,500
$45,650
$51,330
KS
$43,650
$47,430
$50,380
KY
$38,820
$46,630
$59,470
LA
$40,880
$48,950
$57,490
MA
$44,270
$46,850
$49,470
MD
$42,670
$45,630
$51,390
ME
$44,480
$47,730
$61,280
MI
$39,320
$45,220
$54,110
MN
$44,550
$49,740
$59,690
MO
$39,230
$45,190
$55,860
MS
$37,030
$43,420
$46,770
MT
$41,700
$48,060
$56,600
NC
$38,080
$43,420
$47,510
ND
$45,040
$49,260
$56,310
NE
$40,520
$46,730
$50,350
NH
$46,050
$54,460
$61,660
NJ
$39,600
$46,100
$56,480
NM
$39,840
$62,150
$62,150
NV
$39,900
$45,230
$56,100
NY
$44,000
$49,030
$59,700
OH
$42,530
$46,450
$58,840
OK
$37,750
$44,700
$50,900
OR
$47,040
$50,760
$58,920
PA
$43,090
$47,730
$57,650
PR
$26,750
$36,090
$65,420
RI
$39,350
$45,010
$54,620
SC
$38,440
$43,680
$47,590
SD
$43,320
$47,410
$54,770
TN
$37,740
$42,100
$47,660
TX
$37,720
$45,450
$49,590
UT
$44,340
$49,040
$57,860
VA
$42,470
$46,920
$54,420
VT
$43,780
$47,380
$55,080
WA
$46,460
$49,910
$56,760
WI
$44,130
$47,720
$58,270
WV
$36,210
$41,670
$48,040
WY
$46,020
$59,820
$64,590
Other names
Other names for this job
cat operator, cat tractor operator, caterpillar operator, caterpillar tractor operator, charging car operator, diesel tractor operator, drier transfer car operator, electric car operator, electric dolly operator, electric mule operator, electric pallet jack operator, electric truck operator.
More names for this work
euclid operator, finger lift operator, fork operator, forklift operator, forklift truck operator, heavy machinery operator, hi lift operator, hi ranger operator, high lift mule operator, high lift operator, hot car operator, hy lift operator, hydraulic lift operator, hyster machine operator, industrial truck operator, kiln transfer operator, larry operator, lift operator, lift truck operator, log carrier operator, lumber carrier operator, marsh buggy operator, mule operator, package lift operator, power mule operator, quencher operator, quenching car operator, reach truck operator, skidder lever operator, skidder operator, skip operator, stacker operator, straddle bug operator, straddle carrier operator, straddle truck operator, tier lift operator, tow motor operator, tractor operator, transfer car operator, travelift operator, uke operator, unloader operator, wheel loader operator, carry all driver, cat driver, cat skinner, cat tender, caterpillar driver.
If you served
Military jobs this work counts as
From the crosswalk the US Department of Labor publishes itself. If one of these was your job, this page is about the civilian work it maps to.
Starting an Industrial Truck and Tractor Operator resume with no experience
Below are the tasks an Industrial Truck and Tractor Operator job is made of. Choose the ones you have really done. There is no wrong answer here, and you can change any of it later.
Which of these tasks have you actually done?
4 chosen. Rung never adds a task you did not choose.
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operator
Already yours: Operating vehicles or moving equipment, Marking materials for identification, Weighing materials
4 of the 12 tasks this job is made of
Median pay
$46,420 a year
What you have not done yet. Inspecting cargo areas for cleanliness, Cleaning vehicles and components, Securing cargo
Great news! Your skills can open up even more doors.
The tasks for Industrial Truck and Tractor Operator also qualify you for the jobs below. Creating a resume for one of these could help you land even more interviews.
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This page is about the occupation Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.