Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

Inspect trucks prior to beginning routes to ensure safe operating condition.
Drive trucks, following established routes, through residential streets or alleys or through business or industrial areas.
Refuel trucks or add other fluids, such as oil or brake fluid.

Important Qualities

Customer-service skills. Hand laborers and material movers who work with the public, such as grocery baggers or carwash attendants, must be pleasant and courteous to customers.

Hand–eye coordination. Most hand laborers and material movers use their arms and hands to manipulate objects or move objects into specific positions.

Listening skills. Hand laborers and material movers follow instructions that a supervisor gives them.

Physical stamina. Hand laborers and material movers need the endurance to perform strenuous tasks, such as moving or cleaning objects, throughout the day.

Physical strength. Some hand laborers and material movers must be able to lift and carry heavy objects.

Personality

A3	Your Strengths	Importance	Characteristics of this Career
		74%	Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
		69%	Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
		66%	Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
		61%	Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
		59%	Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical.
		54%	Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
		52%	Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
		52%	Concern for Others - Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.

A3	Your Strengths	Importance	Strengths
		100%	Realistic - Work involves designing, building, or repairing of equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors. Realistic occupations are often associated with engineering, mechanics and electronics, construction, woodworking, transportation, machine operation, agriculture, animal services, physical or manual labor, athletics, or protective services.

A3	Your Strengths	Importance	Values of the Work Environment
		56%	Support - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.

Aptitude

A3	Your Strengths	Importance	Abilities \| Cognitive, Physical, Personality
		60%	Multilimb Coordination - The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
		56%	Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
		56%	Static Strength - The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
		53%	Manual Dexterity - The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
		53%	Reaction Time - The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
		53%	Trunk Strength - The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.

Job Details

Responsibilities

Load shipments, belongings, or materials.

Dispose of trash or waste materials.

Inspect motor vehicles.

Maintain vehicles in good working condition.

Prepare accident or incident reports.

Operate vehicles or material-moving equipment.

Operate packing or other material processing equipment.

Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.

Climb ladders or vehicles to perform duties.

Report vehicle or equipment malfunctions.

Notify others of emergencies, problems, or hazards.

Gather information about work conditions or locations.

Explain regulations, policies, or procedures.

Clean vehicles or vehicle components.

Sort materials or objects for processing or transport.

Load shipments, belongings, or materials.

Schedule operational activities.

Estimate costs or terms of sales.

A3	Your Strengths	Importance	Attributes & Percentage of Time Spent
		100%	Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets - How much does this job require wearing common protective or safety equipment such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hard hats or life jackets?
		97%	Outdoors, Exposed to Weather - How often does this job require working outdoors, exposed to all weather conditions?
		92%	In an Enclosed Vehicle or Equipment - How often does this job require working in a closed vehicle or equipment (e.g., car)?
		83%	Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions - How much does this job require making repetitive motions?
		83%	Exposed to Contaminants - How often does this job require working exposed to contaminants (such as pollutants, gases, dust or odors)?
		81%	Very Hot or Cold Temperatures - How often does this job require working in very hot (above 90 F degrees) or very cold (below 32 F degrees) temperatures?
		79%	Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls - How much does this job require using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls?
		73%	Freedom to Make Decisions - How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer?
		69%	Time Pressure - How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines?
		68%	Face-to-Face Discussions - How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job?
		68%	Exposed to Hazardous Equipment - How often does this job require exposure to hazardous equipment?
		67%	Structured versus Unstructured Work - To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals?
		65%	Contact With Others - How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it?
		65%	Sounds, Noise Levels Are Distracting or Uncomfortable - How often does this job require working exposed to sounds and noise levels that are distracting or uncomfortable?
		62%	Spend Time Sitting - How much does this job require sitting?
		60%	Importance of Repeating Same Tasks - How important is repeating the same physical activities (e.g., key entry) or mental activities (e.g., checking entries in a ledger) over and over, without stopping, to performing this job?
		57%	Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results - What results do your decisions usually have on other people or the image or reputation or financial resources of your employer?
		54%	Spend Time Bending or Twisting the Body - How much does this job require bending or twisting your body?
		54%	Consequence of Error - How serious would the result usually be if the worker made a mistake that was not readily correctable?
		52%	Spend Time Standing - How much does this job require standing?
		78%	Duration of Typical Work Week - Number of hours typically worked in one week.

A3	Your Strengths	Importance	Tasks & Values
		83%	Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment - Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
		68%	Performing General Physical Activities - Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
		67%	Handling and Moving Objects - Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
		60%	Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials - Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
		56%	Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates - Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
		54%	Getting Information - Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
		54%	Controlling Machines and Processes - Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
		53%	Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings - Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.

What Hand Laborers and Material Movers Do

Some vehicle and equipment cleaners wash cars.

Hand laborers and material movers manually move freight, stock, or other materials. Some of these workers feed or remove material to or from machines, clean vehicles, pick up unwanted household goods, and pack materials for moving.

Duties

Hand laborers and material movers typically do the following:

Manually move material from one place to another
Pack or wrap products by hand
Keep a record of the material they move
Signal machine operators to help move material
Clean cars, equipment, and workplaces

In warehouses and in wholesale and retail operations, hand laborers and material movers work closely with material moving machine operators and material recording clerks. Some workers are employed in manufacturing industries, loading material onto conveyor belts or other machines.

The following are examples of types of hand laborers and material movers:

Cleaners of vehicles and equipment wash automobiles and other vehicles, as well as storage tanks, pipelines, and related machinery. They use cleaning products, vacuums, hoses, and brushes. Most of these workers clean cars at a carwash, an automobile dealership, or a rental agency. Some clean industrial equipment at manufacturing firms. Some—for example, those who work at a carwash, also known as carwash attendants—interact with customers.

Hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers move materials to and from storage and production areas, loading docks, delivery trucks, ships, and containers. Although their specific duties may vary, most of these movers, often called pickers, work in warehouses. Some workers retrieve products from storage and move them to loading areas. Other workers load and unload cargo from a truck. When moving a package, pickers keep track of the package number, sometimes with a hand-held scanner, to ensure proper delivery. Sometimes they open containers and sort the material.

Hand packers and packagers package a variety of materials by hand. They may label cartons, inspect items for defects, and keep records of items packed. Some of these workers pack materials for shipment and move them to a loading dock. Hand packers in grocery stores, also known as grocery baggers, bag groceries for customers at checkout.

Machine feeders and offbearers process materials by feeding them into equipment or by removing them from equipment. The equipment is generally operated by other workers, such as material moving machine operators. Machine feeders and offbearers help the operator if the machine becomes jammed or needs minor repairs. Machine feeders also track the amount of material they process during a shift.

Refuse and recyclable material collectors gather garbage and recyclables from homes and businesses to transport to a dump, landfill, or recycling center. Many collectors lift garbage cans by hand and empty them into their truck. Some collectors drive the garbage or recycling truck along a scheduled route and may use a hydraulic lift to empty the contents of a dumpster into the truck.

Stockers and order fillers receive, unpack, and track merchandise. Stock clerks move products from a warehouse to store shelves. They keep a record of items that enter or leave the stockroom and inspect for damaged goods. These clerks also use handheld radio frequency identification (RFID) scanners to keep track of merchandise. Order fillers retrieve customer orders and prepare them to be shipped.

Work Environment

Hand laborers and material movers held about 7.1 million jobs in 2022. Employment in the detailed occupations that make up hand laborers and material movers was distributed as follows:

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	2,988,500
Stockers and order fillers	2,851,600
Packers and packagers, hand	659,600
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	401,800
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	146,400
Machine feeders and offbearers	51,500

The largest employers of hand laborers and material movers were as follows:

Retail trade	33%
Transportation and warehousing	22
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	14
Wholesale trade	10
Manufacturing	10

Hand laborers and material movers lift and carry heavy objects, and their work is usually repetitive and physically demanding. They bend, kneel, crouch, or crawl in awkward positions.

Injuries and Illnesses

Hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers and refuse and recyclable material collectors have some of the highest rates of injuries and illnesses of all occupations. Moving heavy objects around warehouses or onto trucks, or bending while cleaning a vehicle, may lead to sprains, strains, or overexertion.

Work Schedules

Most hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers work full time.

Shifts longer than 8 hours are common, and sometimes overtime is available. Because materials are shipped around the clock, some workers, especially those in warehousing, work overnight shifts.

Getting Started

Education:

81%

High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)

11%

Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree)

How to Become a Hand Laborer or Material Mover

Hand laborers and material movers learn on the job.

There are usually no formal educational requirements to become a hand laborer or material mover. Employers typically require only that applicants be physically able to perform the work.

Education

There are no formal educational requirements to become a hand laborer or material mover.

Training

Most positions for hand laborers and material movers require less than 1 month of on-the-job training. Some workers need only a few days of training, and most training is done by a supervisor or a more experienced worker who decides when trainees are ready to work on their own.

Workers learn safety rules as part of their training. Many of these rules are standardized through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Licenses, Certifications, and Registrations

Refuse and recyclable material collectors who drive trucks that exceed a certain capacity—such as vehicles with the combined weight of the vehicle, passengers, and cargo exceeding 26,000 pounds—must have a commercial driver’s license (CDL). Obtaining a CDL requires passing written, skill, and vision tests.

Job Outlook

Overall employment of hand laborers and material movers is projected to grow 5 percent from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations.

About 1,075,800 openings for hand laborers and material movers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

Employment

Projected employment of hand laborers and material movers varies by occupation (see table).

Some warehouses have installed equipment, such as high-speed conveyors and sorting systems, to increase efficiency. However, hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers will still be needed to move materials in many sectors of the economy. Machine feeders and offbearers will be needed to supply materials into or remove materials from equipment that is automated or tended by other workers.

The continued growth in e-commerce will create an increased demand for packaging activities, supporting the demand for stockers and order fillers to prepare orders for pickup or delivery. In addition, some stores may require more workers to handle orders for pickup. However, companies are expanding the use of automated storage and retrieval tools, such as scanners and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, in response to rising demand for products. These technologies will increase productivity for some of the manual tasks performed by stockers and order fillers, which may partly offset fast employment growth.

As the population grows, the amount of trash generated also is expected to increase. Refuse and recyclable material collectors will be needed to remove the trash, but efficiencies created by automation and improved routing will constrain employment growth.

Demand for automotive repair and maintenance services is expected to contribute to employment growth of cleaners of vehicles and equipment.

Grocery stores, which employ many hand packers and packagers, may employ fewer baggers as a growing number of stores have self-checkout stands at which customers or existing cashiers bag groceries themselves. Automation is becoming more viable in warehouses, limiting the need for workers there.

Contacts for More Information

For more information about hand laborers and material movers, visit

MHI

Warehousing Education and Research Council

Similar Occupations

This table shows a list of occupations with job duties that are similar to those of hand laborers and material movers.

Occupation	Job Duties	Entry-Level Education	Median Annual Pay, May 2022
Construction Laborers and Helpers	Construction laborers and helpers perform many tasks that require physical labor on construction sites.	See How to Become One	$39,520
Delivery Truck Drivers and Driver/Sales Workers	Delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers pick up, transport, and drop off packages and small shipments within a local region or urban area.	High school diploma or equivalent	$38,220
Heavy and Tractor-trailer Truck Drivers	Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers transport goods from one location to another.	Postsecondary nondegree award	$49,920
Material Moving Machine Operators	Material moving machine operators use equipment to transport objects.	See How to Become One	$41,730
Material Recording Clerks	Material recording clerks track product information in order to keep businesses and supply chains on schedule.	High school diploma or equivalent	$40,490
Water Transportation Workers	Water transportation workers operate and maintain vessels that take cargo and people over water.	See How to Become One	$66,100

Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

Hand Laborer or Material Mover

What they do:

On the job, you would: