How To Become A Trenching Machine Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a trenching machine operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a trenching machine operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.86 an hour? That's $39,238 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 32,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreTrenching Machine OperatorUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $39,238

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.27%

Asian 2.55%

Black or African American 9.24%

Hispanic or Latino 16.02%

Unknown 3.67%

White 67.25%

Gender

female 2.13%

male 97.87%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a trenching machine operator

Explore trenching machine operator education requirements

Most common trenching machine operator degrees

High School Diploma

53.3 %

Bachelor's

20.0 %

Diploma

13.3 %

Start to develop specific trenching machine operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Ditch	100.00%

Complete relevant trenching machine operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New trenching machine operators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a trenching machine operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real trenching machine operator resumes.

Research trenching machine operator duties and responsibilities

Control & troubleshoot automate extrusion line adjusting speed & feed, monitoring temperature, & finish material specification per customers order.
Perform repair and preventive maintenance on machinery including cleaning, oiling and adjusting.

Prepare your trenching machine operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your trenching machine operator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a trenching machine operator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable trenching machine operator resume templates

Build a professional trenching machine operator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your trenching machine operator resume.