Sitting in a rattling cage -- 110 feet in the air -- is Bill Galea 's job description. He's a container crane operator at the Port of Oakland, the fifth busiest container port in the country.

The port is likewise investing in new equipment. Three ship-to-shore container cranes and five rubber-tired gantry cranes, used to stack containers within the terminal, are currently en route to ...

Crane operators reportedly can earn $100,000 to $250,000 a year. That money would help Alvarado support his family.

And, it provides the operators with the best and most ergonomic working environment possible. ABB piloted the world’s first remotely controlled STS crane in Panama in December 2010.

It was 2005, and he earned around $12 an hour. Then there were four years as a container operator on the ground before getting his chance at operating the cranes, where the pay is roughly $18 per ...