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The differences between truck loaders and lift truck operators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a lift truck operator has an average salary of $36,973, which is higher than the $34,749 average annual salary of a truck loader.
The top three skills for a truck loader include pallets, load trucks and electric pallet jack. The most important skills for a lift truck operator are pallets, safety procedures, and load trailers.
| Truck Loader | Lift Truck Operator | |
| Yearly salary | $34,749 | $36,973 |
| Hourly rate | $16.71 | $17.78 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 7% |
| Number of jobs | 100,059 | 103,337 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 60% | High School Diploma, 53% |
| Average age | 41 | 43 |
| Years of experience | - | 4 |
Truck loaders provide the necessary workforce in loading items for delivery and logistics. The truck loader focuses on ensuring all items are loaded safely into transport vehicles and on time. This position requires a license to operate heavy equipment such as forklifts and cargo handling machines. It is the responsibility of the truck loader that all materials are safe before delivery and after. There are instances where the loader accompanies the truck driver to the destination to help unload the items.
A forklift operator is responsible for lifting and transporting heavy equipment and industrial trucks. They are responsible for loading and unloading products and delivering them from factories or storage facilities to another place like warehouses. This person operates a forklift to ensure the safety and efficacy of the product, cargo, and machine equipment. Also, they need to identify damages, deficiencies, and shortages. An operator reports how the day-to-day operation goes, and their goal is to ensure that the shipment will go to the right place.
Truck loaders and lift truck operators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Truck Loader | Lift Truck Operator | |
| Average salary | $34,749 | $36,973 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $42,000 | Between $29,000 And $46,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Springfield, OR |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Kemps | Nestlé |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Finance |
There are a few differences between a truck loader and a lift truck operator in terms of educational background:
| Truck Loader | Lift Truck Operator | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 60% | High School Diploma, 53% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between truck loaders' and lift truck operators' demographics:
| Truck Loader | Lift Truck Operator | |
| Average age | 41 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.8% Female, 9.2% | Male, 89.7% Female, 10.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 4.3% White, 64.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% | Black or African American, 16.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.5% Asian, 2.4% White, 57.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 3% | 4% |