Conveyor Operators and Tenders

Overview

Conveyor Operators and Tenders has a national median salary of $42,420 per year, with -2.6% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists no formal educational credential as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

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.

Work Values

• Support
• Relationships
• Independence

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• 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.

Work Activities

• Handling and Moving Objects
• Assisting and Caring for Others
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Performing General Physical Activities
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Training and Teaching Others
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People
• Controlling Machines and Processes

Detailed Work Activities

• Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
• Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
• Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
• Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
• Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
• Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists no formal educational credential as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished an associate's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Associate's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for no formal educational credential.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Conveyor Operators and Tenders:

Video Resources