Driver/Sales Workers

Low pay & highrisk
High Risk
Low High

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Lower estimated automation risk

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
3.5/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

72% (High Risk)

High Risk (61-80%): This occupation shows a significant risk of end-to-end replacement by automation. Many core parts of the role may be structured, repeatable, software-driven, or physically predictable enough for AI, machines, or robotic systems to take over. If you work in this area, it may be worth exploring safer related careers or moving towards more human-centred responsibilities.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Working directly with the public

Quite important
Why this matters
The job involves face-to-face interaction with customers, clients, or guests—answering questions, handling requests, and managing service situations in real time. Roles with frequent public interaction are harder to replace end-to-end because they rely on trust, communication, and adapting to unpredictable human needs.
Jobs that also use this strength

Critical thinking

Quite important
Why this matters
Weigh options using logic and evidence, spot weaknesses in arguments, and choose the best approach when there isn’t a single clear answer.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 247 votes

78% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted that it's probable this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 72% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Driver/Sales Workers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Driver/Sales Workers was $37,130 ($18 per hour).

The median annual wage for Driver/Sales Workers was 25.0% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Driver/Sales Workers' job openings is expected to rise 8.8% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 417,420 people employed as 'Driver/Sales Workers' within the United States.

This represents around 0.27% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 369 people are employed as 'Driver/Sales Workers'.

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What people are saying (15)

Leave a comment
Nah (Highly likely)
03 Aug 2025 08:49
Humans have a limit on their scope of knowledge and memory to push products and promotions. Besides that, issues such as biases and discrimination will be completely eliminated by the use of automation
Jj (No chance)
20 Jul 2025 01:49
It will cost way too much to create self driving cars that can be loaded and drop pizzas at the front door? Who knows, maybe if they get those androids prices lower than it cost a human including maintenance etc…
GunAndAmmo (Highly likely)
05 Sep 2023 16:33
there are already autonomous taxi in san francisco the question is what will the driver do ?
Constantin (Highly likely)
30 Dec 2022 07:01
Very likely to be automated by self-driving cars.
I think by 2040, the majority of cars on the road will be driven by AI.

And if you don't need human drivers, then trucks and lorries will not make sense from a business standpoint. So, I think large trucks will disappear and a large truck will be replaced with a fleet of smaller cars driven by AI artificial intelligence algorithms.
Vivian (Highly likely)
04 Nov 2021 04:18
I hate being a delivery driver, robots please take my job
Jo (Highly likely)
24 Jul 2021 11:53
There are at least three tech firms already seriously working on self-driving lorries... that on top of the large number of companies in the self-driving car market already... the writing on this wall is writ very large... or maybe in three mile high illuminated letters...
Heath Edwards (Uncertain)
29 Jul 2020 01:27
There are multitude of "blind spots" in GPS coverage. When encountered by a human delivery person that is familiar with the area they are annoying but are not insurmountable. If a drone loses signal...what, hover in place with 500 other stones until the battery runs out, return to base, etc.. If the Earth's GPS coverage reaches 100% confidence over an entire delivery area then yes, automation, UNLESS the delivery is to a condo/apartment/mobile home park/ hotel or any delivery point that exists as one unit among many, all sharing the same street address. If these two issues are solved then yes, automation. If these issues persist it will delay implementation. In sum, it could go either way. Sincerely, Heath Edwards
jo
24 Jul 2021 12:02
GPS (and the rest of the world's positional tracking systems) have very few "blind spots", particularly from the air, and machines unfamiliar with the area would do what a human would do and use a map... one familiar with the area would do as a human would do, use an internal map. Multiple addresses in one place would also be handled initially by the human equivalent expedient of dumping the package at the apartment block door or leaving a "we missed you - come collect your package at the depot" postcard... given that the delivery times would probably still be faster there would be as few complaints as now (and it would get blamed on software errors instead of shuffling the human to a different route). This might improve with new buildings with drone landing pads on the roof with special recepticles might well become the norm, proving safer for the incoming packages as well as not having to go to the depot to collect packages that could not be delivered because you weren't in.
Vivian
05 Nov 2021 00:58
There are several workarounds to this problem. The first and most obvious I could think of is delivery over local areas that can work off of downloaded maps. This can be expanded to include fairly large regions nowadays with recent technological advances in the efficiency of GIS software and databases. The second solution I can think of is our current technologies in electronic compasses that combine GPS units with measurements of the magnetic field to allow fairly accurate positioning without satellite contact. The biggest issue facing automated delivery is really to deal with changing road hazards. The current solution of AI decision making based on photographic sensors and communication with other devices is useful, but I think a possible future development that would revolutionize this field, especially in rural areas, would be cost-efficient land-based LIDAR sensors paired with electronic compass. But take everything I'm saying with somewhat of a grain of salt, I'm just studying this in school currently.
Helia (Moderate)
27 Mar 2020 18:38
because it can be driven by robots
Jo
24 Jul 2021 12:04
24/7, more safely and more quickly and the money being left on the table by not automating it means that although this might be a harder task than some others it will be done faster because the rewards to success are so incredible... hence the large number of companies in the market already.
Awaluddin
15 Dec 2019 23:52
It would not be happened here in Indonesia and every developing countries in the world, since the road user are not as obedient as those in advanced countries, try it here and the robot would not run their cars because human drivers are driving careless.
Michael
04 Jul 2020 22:13
They’re obviously talking about advanced countries such as the United States...
Jo
24 Jul 2021 11:55
Drones don't need roads and fly above human drivers, crazy or not...
Stefano
03 Feb 2025 17:27
Hahaha As Doc said in the movie "Back to the Future"
Leave a reply about this occupation
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Job description

Drive truck or other vehicle over established routes or within an established territory and sell or deliver goods, such as food products, including restaurant take-out items, or pick up or deliver items such as commercial laundry. May also take orders, collect payment, or stock merchandise at point of delivery.

O*NET-SOC code: 53-3031.00