Also called: Scoop Operator, LHD Operator, Underground Loader Operator
Drives the low, armored vehicles that haul freshly cut coal or ore from the mining face to the conveyor belt.
Your machine is barely taller than your knees, so you drive sitting sideways in a cab under a rock roof. All shift you shuttle loads between the continuous miner and the belt, dodging pillars and cables in your headlamp beam. On a good shift your section breaks a production record.
BLS loading and moving machine operators in underground mining.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0 years after high school. High school diploma plus MSHA new-miner safety training (24-40 hours) and on-the-job training.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Certification. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Shrinking (about -3% over 10 years). Shrinking with coal, but metal mines still hire.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. Autonomous loaders and haulers already run in many hard-rock mines, cutting driver jobs over the decade.
Age 18+. One way to start: Apply to underground coal or hard-rock mines for entry miner jobs First: MSHA new-miner training (40 hours underground)
Classes: Driver's education, Mechanics CTE class.
Official data: O*NET occupation 47-5044.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.