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.
U.S. Workers
22,520
Median Salary
$49,210
10-Year Growth
-1.4%
Annual Openings
4,200
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
9 of 9 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Grade logs according to characteristics such as knot size and straightness, and according to established industry or company standards.
AI: Fully automatable - Full—computer vision and machine-learning systems can measure knot size and straightness and apply formal grading standards with high accuracy.
Fill out required job or shift report forms.
AI: Fully automatable - Full—filling out job or shift reports is routine data entry that can be fully automated from sensors, logs, or voice transcription.
Calculate total board feet, cordage, or other wood measurement units, using conversion tables.
AI: Fully automatable - Full—calculating board feet, cords, and other volume units using conversion tables is straightforward to automate.
Inspect equipment for safety prior to use, and perform necessary basic maintenance tasks.
AI: Partial - Computer vision, sensor diagnostics, and predictive maintenance can perform many pre-use inspections and guide basic maintenance, but hands-on maintenance tasks and some safety judgments still need human intervention in 2025.
Control hydraulic tractors equipped with tree clamps and booms to lift, swing, and bunch sheared trees.
AI: Partial - Partial—some harvesters and teleoperation systems can control clamps and booms for bunching, but complex, unstructured forest conditions and safety constraints still require human oversight.
Drive and maneuver tractors and tree harvesters to shear the tops off of trees, cut and limb the trees, and cut the logs into desired lengths.
AI: Partial - Partial—modern harvesters automate cutting and delimbing to set lengths in many cases, but fully autonomous end-to-end harvesting across all terrain and edge cases is not yet broadly reliable.
Drive straight or articulated tractors equipped with accessories such as bulldozer blades, grapples, logging arches, cable winches, and crane booms, to skid, load, unload, or stack logs, pull stumps, or clear brush.
AI: Partial - Partial—assisted controls and teleoperation can handle skidding/loading tasks, but fully autonomous operation of tractors with varied attachments in rough terrain remains limited.
Drive crawler or wheeled tractors to drag or transport logs from felling sites to log landing areas for processing and loading.
AI: Partial - Partial—prototype autonomous haulers exist, but reliably navigating unpredictable felling sites and obstacles in general forestry operations typically still needs human supervision.
Drive tractors for the purpose of building or repairing logging and skid roads.
AI: Partial - Partial—autonomous earthmoving and grading technologies exist for predictable tasks, but building or repairing skid roads in dense, variable forest environments often requires human judgment and intervention.