They may also set up and inspect equipment, make adjustments, and perform minor repairs. Material moving equipment operators are classified by the type of equipment they operate. Each piece of equipment requires different skills to move the different types of loads. Crane and tower operators lift materials, machinery, or other heavy objects from the ground. They extend or retract a horizontally mounted boom to lower, or raise a hook attached to the loadline, often in response to hand signals and radioed instructions.
Operators position the loads from the on-board console or from a remote console at the site.
While crane and tower operators are conspicuous at office building and other construction sites, the biggest group works in primary metal, metal fabrication, and transportation equipment manufacturing industries that use heavy, bulky materials as inputs. Excavation and loading machine operators dig and load sand, gravel, earth, or similar materials into trucks or onto conveyors using machinery equipped with scoops, shovels, or buckets. Construction and mining industries employ virtually all e xcavation and loading machine operators . Grader, dozer, and scraper operators gouge out, distribute, level, and grade earth with vehicles equipped with a concave blade attached across the front. In addition to the familiar bulldozers, they operate trench excavators, road graders, and similar equipment.