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Overview
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. Logging truck drivers are included in "Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers" (53-3032).
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Titles for this career often contain these words
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Responsibilities and activities
Logging workers typically do the following:
- Cut down trees
- Fasten cables around logs to be dragged by tractors
- Operate machinery that drag logs to the landing or deck area
- Separate logs by species and type of wood and load them onto trucks
- Drive and maneuver feller–buncher tree harvesters to shear trees and cut logs into desired lengths
- Grade logs according to characteristics such as knot size and straightness
- Inspect equipment for safety, and perform necessary basic maintenance tasks, before using the equipment
The cutting and logging of timber is done by a logging crew. The following are examples of types of logging workers:
Fallers cut down trees with hand-held power chain saws.
Buckers work alongside fallers, trimming the tops and branches of felled trees and bucking (cutting) the logs into specific lengths.
Tree climbers use special equipment to scale tall trees and remove their limbs. They carry heavy tools and safety gear as they climb the trees, and are kept safe by a harness attached to a rope.
Choke setters fasten steel cables or chains, known as chokers, around logs to be skidded (dragged) by tractors or forwarded by the cable-yarding system to the landing or deck area, where the logs are separated by species and type of product.
Rigging slingers and chasers set up and dismantle the cables and guy wires of the yarding system.
Log sorters, markers, movers, and chippers sort, mark, and move logs on the basis of their species, size, and ownership. They also tend machines that chip up logs.
Logging equipment operators use tree harvesters to fell trees, shear off tree limbs, and cut trees into desired lengths. They drive tractors and operate self-propelled machines called skidders or forwarders, which drag or otherwise transport logs to a loading area.
Log graders and scalers inspect logs for defects and measure the logs to determine their volume. They estimate the value of logs or pulpwood. These workers often use hand-held data collection devices into which they enter data about trees.
A logging crew might consist of the following members:
- one or two tree fallers or one or two logging equipment operators with a tree harvester to cut down trees
- one bucker to cut logs
- two choke setters with tractors to drag felled trees to the loading deck
- one logging equipment operator to delimb, cut logs to length, and load the logs onto trucks
Salary
Median salary: $43,210 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $33,080 and $52,780.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for logging workers
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
Number employed
About Logging Equipment Operators
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of logging equipment operators who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
- Responsible for Others' Health (83%)
- Exposed to Whole Body Vibration (77%)
- Consequence of Error (68%)
- Hazardous Equipment (56%)
- Exposed to Contaminants (55%)
- Time Pressure (38%)
- Unpleasant or Angry People (35%)
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Logging Equipment Operators? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Communication skills
Logging workers must communicate with other crew members so that they can cut and delimb trees efficiently and safely.
Decisionmaking skills
Logging workers must make quick, intelligent decisions when hazards arise.
Detail oriented
Logging workers must watch gauges, dials, and other indicators to determine whether their equipment and tools are working properly.
Physical stamina
Logging workers need to be able to perform laborious tasks repeatedly.
Physical strength
Logging workers must be able to handle heavy equipment.
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by logging equipment operators
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), logging equipment operators typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as logging workers as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for logging equipment operators
A high school diploma is enough for most logging worker jobs. Some vocational or technical schools and community colleges offer associate’s degrees or certificates in forest technology. This additional education may help workers get a job. Programs may include field trips to observe or participate in logging activities.
A few community colleges offer education programs for logging equipment operators.
Education level of Logging Workers
Only 4% of logging workers have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by logging workers
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click the program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Logging Workers per 1,000 workers (ACS)
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most logging equipment operators? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as logging equipment operators. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where logging equipment operators earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
- In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for logging workers compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
- Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for logging workers.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which logging workers earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Logging Workers (ACS for all specialties)
Employment
13% of Logging workers are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 13% part-time workers, this occupation has a higher percentage of part-time workers than 51% of careers.
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of logging workers by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
Gender
Logging workers and gender
With 2% women, this occupation has a lower percentage of women than 94% of careers.
Gender of Logging workers
Men (98%)
Women (2%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers
in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women
by 19%, and the difference
for logging workers tops that, with the median salary for
men 25% higher than the median
salary for women.
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Logging workers
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Logging workers.
Race/origin of logging workers
White (86% )
Black (9% )
Other (2% )
American Indian (1% )
Multiracial (1% )
Hispanic (0% )
Asian (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
