Crane and Tower Operators
Operate mechanical boom and cable or tower and cable equipment to lift and move materials, machines, or products in many directions.
Most important skills
- Operation and Control
- Operations Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- Mathematics
- Transportation
- English Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Building and Construction
- Education and Training
- Production and Processing
What the work involves
- Determine load weights and check them against lifting capacities to prevent overload.
- Move levers, depress foot pedals, or turn dials to operate cranes, cherry pickers, electromagnets, or other moving equipment for lifting, moving, or placing loads.
- Inspect cables or grappling devices for wear and install or replace cables, as needed.
- Clean, lubricate, and maintain mechanisms such as cables, pulleys, or grappling devices, making repairs, as necessary.
- Inspect and adjust crane mechanisms or lifting accessories to prevent malfunctions or damage.
- Direct helpers engaged in placing blocking or outrigging under cranes.
- Load or unload bundles from trucks, or move containers to storage bins, using moving equipment.
- Inspect crane site conditions to determine ground stability.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Post-Secondary Certificate (60.6% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (21%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (27%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Crane and Tower Operators is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 73% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 94% of occupations compared | 74% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 85% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 73% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 87% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 71% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 68% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 90% of occupations compared | 76% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Occasional contact with others: 1.68%
- Contact with others about half the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Contact with others most of the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Constant contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0.84%
- Fairly important: 2.54%
- Important: 0.84%
- Very important: 21.93%
- Extremely important: 73.84%
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 0.85%
- Important: 1.69%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0.84%
- Very little freedom: 1.69%
- Limited freedom: 2.14%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 6%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 11, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 0.84%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 22.79%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0.84%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 20.67%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 23.16%
- Fairly serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very serious: 1.3%
- Extremely serious: 75.54%
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 53-7021.00 · SOC 53-7021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8