Light Truck Drivers

High Risk
76%

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Vote Comments (7)
AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
90%
(Imminent Risk)
POLLING
62%
(High Risk, Based on 164 votes)
Average: 76%
LABOR DEMAND
GROWTH
8.8%
by year 2033
WAGES
$42,470
or $20.42 per hour
Volume
1,003,960
as of 2023
SUMMARY
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
4.0/10
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.

People also viewed

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Calculated automation risk

90% (Imminent Risk)

Imminent Risk (81-100%): Occupations in this level have an extremely high likelihood of being automated in the near future. These jobs consist primarily of repetitive, predictable tasks with little need for human judgment.

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

Some quite important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Assisting and Caring for Others

  • Manual Dexterity

User poll

62% 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 90% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Light Truck Drivers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

The following graph is shown where there are enough votes to produce meaningful data. It displays user poll results over time, providing a clear indication of sentiment trends.

Sentiment over time (yearly)

Growth

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Light Truck Drivers' job openings is expected to rise 8.8% by 2033

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.

Wages

Very low paid relative to other professions

In 2023, the median annual wage for 'Light Truck Drivers' was $42,470, or $20 per hour

'Light Truck Drivers' were paid 11.6% lower than the national median wage, which stood at $48,060

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2023 there were 1,003,960 people employed as 'Light Truck Drivers' within the United States.

This represents around 0.7% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 151 people are employed as 'Light Truck Drivers'.

Job description

Drive a light vehicle, such as a truck or van, with a capacity of less than 26,001 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), primarily to pick up merchandise or packages from a distribution center and deliver. May load and unload vehicle.

SOC Code: 53-3033.00

Comments (7)

Leave a comment
Xi Huang (Low)
27 Mar 2025 12:22
Even with self driving technology, which is still unproven and dangerous, most companies will want some human involvement in the case that the Trucks AI stops working. If a sensor is broken or a software update is missed while the Truck is 400 miles from the nearest place for repairs, a human driver would still be used. Perhaps wages will contract but we are farther away from fully autonomous driving than many other jobs.
Robert (No chance)
04 Sep 2024 03:55
The tech does not prove to be fully capable nor in enough abundance to complete this task. The glossy promos and tech demos look great, and even small area rollouts look promising but always fail to address scale. Most importantly they do not account for rapid changes in industry or human malice.
Bob
28 Jul 2024 22:19
Who is going to load and unload frieght? Who is going to make sure straps/chains dont get loose during transit? Who's going to put chains on tires in the winter? Whos going to refuel/recharge the trucks? Who's going to stop theives from breaking into the trailer if no diver in truck? Will A.I. be able to drive off-road like for oil tankers? When a truck is loading/unloading, shippers and recievers often want you in a very specific space. How will you tell A.I. where to go? Driving will become automated, however I believe most trucks will still require someone sitting in the cab and taking over when they need to.
Maciej Leqen (Highly likely)
02 Dec 2021 14:57
Just Look at tesla autopilot
Jose Luis Espert (Highly likely)
04 Aug 2021 00:03
In all driving jobs, robots will be far more reliable than humans, as well as more effective, since they don´t need time to sleep. At first, I think that they will replace long-trip workers, however, the change could happen immediately.
Paul
21 Dec 2020 20:38
I can understand people’s concerns with linehaul or warehouse/fulfilment centre work being automated, but delivery driver automation? Doubtful. I’ve done residential and business deliveries for major delivery companies, and there are too many variables for current technology to thrive in these situations. Maybe a few decades from now we will see robots capable of taking over this job.
Archived Knowledge (Highly likely)
19 Apr 2020 11:31
We are closing in on having autonomous trucks, and already have small autonomous take away robots, replacing human-to-human deliveries.
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