Verdict
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand and Light Truck Drivers are effectively tied on AI exposure (28 vs 25). Choose on pay, interest and entry cost — not on automation risk.
Transportation
28 /100
Heavy manual labor in variable settings resists automation, though sortation and conveyance are increasingly robotic.
Full risk profile →Transportation
25 /100
Physical loading, vehicle upkeep, and customer-facing delivery duties anchor this role in the real world beyond current AI.
Full risk profile →| Metric | Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | Light Truck Drivers |
|---|---|---|
| AI Fear Score | 28/100 | 25/100 |
| Risk band | Resilient | Resilient |
| Automation probability | 28% | 25% |
| LLM task exposure | 28% | 25% |
| Median pay (BLS) | $38,940 | $44,140 |
| US workers | 2,982,530 | 994,410 |
| Timeline | Robotic sortation and autonomous mobile robots are displacing roles in structured warehouses now; unstructured outdoor and mixed-freight contexts will take considerably longer. | GPS and routing AI already assist navigation; autonomous light trucks are in limited testing but regulatory approval for broad urban deployment is a decade away. |
For long-tail occupations the two research anchors share a single AI-reviewed exposure estimate — see the methodology.
The usual pivots that reuse your experience while cutting exposure: Shipping and receiving supervisor, Warehouse operations lead, Logistics coordinator. See the full plan →
They're effectively tied: Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand scores 28/100 and Light Truck Drivers scores 25/100 on our AI exposure scale.
Light Truck Drivers pays more at the median: $44,140 vs $38,940 (BLS May 2024).
Scores are estimates, not predictions — two research anchors applied to task mixes, with BLS May-2024 wages and employment. Not career advice.