Load shipments, belongings, or materials
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 | 12 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Performing General Physical Activities (4.A.3.a.1) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 12 occupations that perform it.
- Load or unload trucks that deliver or pick up food or supplies.
- Distribute cargo to maximize use of space.
- Assist workers in tasks, such as loading vehicles.
- Review lists of dealers, customers, or station drops and load trucks.
- Load or unload trucks or help others with loading or unloading, using special loading-related equipment or other equipment as necessary.
- Load and unload trucks, vans, or automobiles.
- Load and unload baggage in baggage compartments.
- Load or unload materials, vehicles, or passengers from vessels.
- Load or unload bundles from trucks, or move containers to storage bins, using moving equipment.
- Signal and assist other workers loading or unloading materials.
- Manually or mechanically load or unload materials from pallets, skids, platforms, cars, lifting devices, or other transport vehicles.
- Make special pickups of recyclable materials, such as food scraps, used oil, discarded computers, or other electronic items.
- Overhaul lifeboats or lifeboat gear and lower or raise lifeboats with winches or falls.
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
12 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors
- Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity
- Crane and Tower Operators
- Dishwashers
- Driver/Sales Workers
- First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators
- Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
- Hoist and Winch Operators
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
- Light Truck Drivers
- Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
- Sailors and Marine Oilers
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Load products, materials, or equipment for transportation or further processing”. 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.