Logging Equipment Operators
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry · SOC 45-4022
AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.
Decision card
Career Evidence Passport
SOC 45-4022 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.
- SOC exposure
- 0.0%
- Low · Anthropic AEI
- Automation friction
- 52/100
- Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
- Wages
- $49,740
- No H-1B offered-wage row for this SOC.
- Projected openings
- 5,000
- BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change -1.4%.
- Observed/proxy demand
- —
- FY— certified LCAs; 5,016 postings in 2025.
Skill evidence
Transition context
- H-1B values are certified Labor Condition Applications, not visa approvals.
- Job postings are seed-static / seed-derived; treat as provider-ready proxy coverage until observed provider data is wired in.
- Transition matches are directional skill-overlap context, not placement guarantees.
- This release is a FutureGrid broad-SOC seed derived from public BLS ORS requirement concepts and categories, not direct occupation-level ORS survey estimates. It describes job requirements, not worker ability, AI capability, or displacement probability. Automation friction is a FutureGrid derived score and should be read alongside exposure, demand, wage, and projection signals.
AI Exposure Analysis
Across AI measures
Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.
AI could do ~18.8% of this role but only ~0% is currently done with AI — a large capability-vs-adoption gap.
Top Skills
H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand
View full H-1B trends →No H-1B certified LCA filings recorded for this occupation in FY2016–FY2025.
O*NET occupation profile
What this work involves
Drive logging tractor or wheeled vehicle equipped with one or more accessories, such as bulldozer blade, frontal shear, grapple, logging arch, cable winches, hoisting rack, or crane boom, to fell tree; to skid, load, unload, or stack logs; or to pull stumps or clear brush. Includes operating stand-alone logging machines, such as log chippers.
Common titles: Delimber Operator, Feller Buncher Operator, Harvester Operator, Loader Operator, Log Processor Operator, Logging Equipment Operator
Representative Tasks
- •Inspect equipment for safety prior to use, and perform necessary basic maintenance tasks.
- •Control hydraulic tractors equipped with tree clamps and booms to lift, swing, and bunch sheared trees.
- •Grade logs according to characteristics such as knot size and straightness, and according to established industry or company standards.
- •Drive straight or articulated tractors equipped with accessories such as bulldozer blades, grapples, logging arches, cable winches, and crane booms to skid, load, unload, or stack logs, pull stumps, or clear brush.
- •Drive crawler or wheeled tractors to drag or transport logs from felling sites to log landing areas for processing and loading.
Detailed Work Activities
- •Inspect equipment or facilities to determine condition or maintenance needs.
- •Maintain forestry, hunting, or agricultural equipment.
- •Operate forestry equipment.
- •Evaluate log quality.
- •Cut trees or logs.
Tools & Technologies
Employment Projections & AI Exposure
Employment & Wage Trend
BLS OEWS, 2019–2025
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.
Sector Comparison
| Metric | This Career | Sector Average |
|---|---|---|
| AI Exposure | 0.0% | 1.3% |
| Outlook | Average | 9% Bright |
| Median Salary | $49,740 | N/A |
| AI Resiliency | 100/100 | N/A |