AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand?

Task-level automation exposure for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand: 13 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Automation Exposure

23% weighted task index

13 of 13 tasks scored

Median Salary

$40,240 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Very High

2,950,280 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+1.8% employment change

340,500 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 54 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$24,560 – $46,280

Highest medians

Minnesota $46,280

Washington $46,190

District of Columbia $45,740

North Dakota $45,690

Colorado $45,370

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $24,560

Virgin Islands $31,810

Louisiana $35,340

Arkansas $35,920

Mississippi $36,400

State figures come from the 53-7062 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 23%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 54%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 8%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 8%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 45/100 Moderate

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

13 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 19%

2 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 0%

0 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 81%

11 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Emerging & rewritten tasks

Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.

New 08/2024 · Incumbent

Inspect products for damage or leaks.

Constituent Tasks

#10789 · Core · 25% automatable

Maintain equipment storage areas to ensure that inventory is protected.

visual inspection — Monitoring cargo conditions is physical/sensor-based

Monitor cargo area conditions.

#10779 · Core · 71% automatable

Read work orders or receive oral instructions to determine work assignments or material or equipment needs.

information retrieval — Parse work orders into procedures reliably

Review work orders or schedules to determine operations or procedures. Receive information or instructions for performing work assignments.

#10781 · Core · 8% automatable

Move freight, stock, or other materials to and from storage or production areas, loading docks, delivery vehicles, ships, or containers, by hand or using trucks, tractors, or other equipment.

physical manipulation — Manual moving of materials and supplies

Move materials, equipment, or supplies.

#10788 · Supplemental · 4% automatable

Install protective devices, such as bracing, padding, or strapping, to prevent shifting or damage to items being transported.

physical manipulation — Physical securing of cargo with straps

Secure cargo.

#10782 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Sort cargo before loading and unloading.

physical manipulation — Physical sorting of objects needs robotic manipulation

Sort materials or objects for processing or transport.

#10778 · Supplemental · 12% automatable

Attach identifying tags to containers or mark them with identifying information.

physical manipulation — Physically marking objects requires manipulation

Mark materials or objects for identification.

#10780 · Supplemental · 82% automatable

Record numbers of units handled or moved, using daily production sheets or work tickets.

data analysis — Record production data into structured logs

Record operational or production data.

#10790 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Attach slings, hooks, or other devices to lift cargo and guide loads.

physical manipulation — Crane/hoist operation demands real-time physical control

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

#10787 · Supplemental · 8% automatable

Carry needed tools or supplies from storage or trucks and return them after use.

physical manipulation — Manual moving of materials and supplies

Move materials, equipment, or supplies.

#10786 · Supplemental · 5% automatable

Pack containers and re-pack damaged containers.

physical manipulation — Hands-on packaging of products

Package materials or products.

#10783 · Supplemental · 5% automatable

Assemble product containers or crates, using hand tools and precut lumber.

physical manipulation — Wood assembly requires hands-on fitting and fastening

Assemble wood products.

#10792 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Adjust controls to guide, position, or move equipment, such as cranes, booms, or cameras.

physical manipulation — Crane/hoist operation demands real-time physical control

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

#10796 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Connect electrical equipment to power sources so that it can be tested before use.

physical manipulation — Connecting cables is hands-on installation

Connect cables or electrical lines.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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