Connect cables or electrical lines
Little of this can be handed to software today.
This happens in the physical world, so software agents do not touch it. Automation here means robotics and machinery, which is a different market from the one mapped on this site, on a much slower clock.
| How automatable | Barely automatable |
|---|---|
| Kind of work | Physical, manual and inspection work |
| Jobs that do it | 8 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Handling and Moving Objects (4.A.3.a.2) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 8 occupations that perform it.
- Handle high voltage sources and hang electrical cables.
- Couple or uncouple trailers by changing trailer jack positions, connecting or disconnecting air or electrical lines, or manipulating fifth-wheel locks.
- Couple and uncouple air hoses and electrical connections between cars.
- Attach onboard diagnostics (OBD) scanner cables to vehicles to conduct emissions inspections.
- Join sections of conveyor frames at temporary working areas, and connect power units.
- Attach, fasten, and disconnect cables or lines to loads, materials, and equipment, using hand tools.
- Connect electrical equipment to power sources so that it can be tested before use.
- Connect ground cables to carry off static electricity when unloading tanker cars.
What we would actually use
Nothing in our landscape addresses this work. That is the honest answer rather than a padded list: this activity needs a person present, or a machine rather than a software agent.
Nothing on this site applies. Automation here is robotics and machinery, a different market on a much slower clock, and no software subscription moves it.
Chosen for the cheapest thing that does the job, not the best funded. Nothing on this site is sponsored, and the full landscape is there when you want to disagree with us.
How people actually do it
No workflow names this activity yet, but these automate the same kind of work, with the prompts to paste and what to keep for yourself.
Who does this work
8 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Conveyor Operators and Tenders
- Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
- Hoist and Winch Operators
- Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
- Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining
- Rail Yard Engineers, Dinkey Operators, and Hostlers
- Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders
- Transportation Vehicle, Equipment and Systems Inspectors, Except Aviation
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Connect components or supply lines to equipment or tools”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
Method. The activity, its taxonomy placement and the occupations that perform it come straight from the public-domain O*NET 30.3 database. The automatability band is ours: we map each of O*NET’s 41 generalized work activities to how much of its output current software can produce, assuming a person still reviews and owns the result. It is a coarse three-way judgment on purpose. A precise-looking percentage here would be invented.