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Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Operate or tend machinery at surface mining site, equipped with scoops, shovels, or buckets to excavate and load loose materials.

Related: Construction Laborers Continuous Mining Machine Operators Hoist & Winch Operators Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics Operating Engineers & Other Construction Equipment Operators

Industries: Mining, Oil, & Gas Construction

Summary
Details

Lubricate, adjust, or repair machinery and replace parts, such as gears, bearings, or bucket teeth.
Observe hand signals, grade stakes, or other markings when operating machines so that work can be performed to specifications.
Drive machines to work sites.
Create or maintain inclines or ramps.
Operate machinery to perform activities such as backfilling excavations, vibrating or breaking rock or concrete, or making winter roads.
Become familiar with digging plans, machine capabilities and limitations, and efficient and safe digging procedures in a given application.
Handle slides, mud, or pit cleanings or maintenance.
Perform manual labor to prepare or finish sites, such as shoveling materials by hand.
Adjust dig face angles for varying overburden depths and set lengths.
Create or maintain inclines or ramps.
Receive written or oral instructions regarding material movement or excavation.
Move materials over short distances, such as around a construction site, factory, or warehouse.
Direct ground workers engaged in activities such as moving stakes or markers, or changing positions of towers.
Direct workers engaged in placing blocks or outriggers to prevent capsizing of machines when lifting heavy loads.
Move levers, depress foot pedals, and turn dials to operate power machinery, such as power shovels, stripping shovels, scraper loaders, or backhoes.
Set up or inspect equipment prior to operation.
Measure and verify levels of rock or gravel, bases, or other excavated material.
Measure and verify levels of rock or gravel, bases, or other excavated material.

Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

Less than 5 years work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

62530/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

30.06/hr

Currently Employed

34,100

Yearly Projected Openings

3500

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Dependability
Attention to Detail
Stress Tolerance
Adaptability/Flexibility
Cooperation
Integrity

Acoustic ear muffs or defenders
Adjustable wrenches
Backhoes
Batching plants or feeders
Boring or sinking machinery
Claw hammer
Crusher hammer
Draglines
Dump trucks
Earthmoving buckets or its parts or accessories
Flatbed trailers
Forklifts
Front end loaders
Goggles
Grapples
Grease guns
Levels
Locking pliers
Low bed trailer
Mainframe console or dumb terminals
Mobile excavators
Respirators
Rock crushers
Screwdrivers
Skid steer loaders
Slings
Tape measures
Tire pressure gauge
Touch screen monitors
Track excavators
Water trucks
Wheel chocks
Wheel excavators
Wheel loaders

Electronic mail software
Industrial control software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Statewide occupation search

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Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

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