Job Check
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
Drive a tractor-trailer combination or a truck with a capacity of at least 26,001 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW). May be required to unload truck. Requires commercial drivers' license. Includes tow truck drivers.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Check all load-related documentation for completeness and accuracy.AI could speed this up a lot
- 02Inspect loads to ensure that cargo is secure.Mostly human for now
- 03Check vehicles to ensure that mechanical, safety, and emergency equipment is in good working order.Mostly human for now
- 04Crank trailer landing gear up or down to safely secure vehicles.Mostly human for now
- 05Obtain receipts or signatures for delivered goods and collect payment for services when required.Mostly human for now
- 06Maintain logs of working hours or of vehicle service or repair status, following applicable state and federal regulations.AI could speed this up a lot
- 07Read bills of lading to determine assignment details.AI could speed this up a lot
- 08Report vehicle defects, accidents, traffic violations, or damage to the vehicles.AI could speed this up a lot
- 09Perform basic vehicle maintenance tasks, such as adding oil, fuel, or radiator fluid, performing minor repairs, or washing trucks.Mostly human for now
- 10Couple or uncouple trailers by changing trailer jack positions, connecting or disconnecting air or electrical lines, or manipulating fifth-wheel locks.Mostly human for now
Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.
Four studies, side by side
None is a forecast of job lossToo little dataNot enough work use was seen to measure. This does not mean the job is safe from AI.Anthropic, 2026
28%of this job’s tasks an AI model could do in half the time, counting tasks that need extra tools as half (rated in 2023).Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023
Above 45% of jobsin how often and how well AI helped with this job’s work in Microsoft Copilot chats (2024 data).Microsoft Research (Tomlinson et al.), 2025
Above 98% of jobsin how much of this job’s physical work robots have been shown to do, from factories to homes (2026).Anthropic, 2026
Your human edge
The main tasks with no real AI use seen and no big speed-up expected. This is where your skill counts most today.
- Inspect loads to ensure that cargo is secure.
- Check vehicles to ensure that mechanical, safety, and emergency equipment is in good working order.
- Crank trailer landing gear up or down to safely secure vehicles.