AI exposure: First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of material-moving machine and vehicle operators and helpers.
Reading this score
computed32.7% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators at the 57th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.2 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 22 tasks it averages 1.88 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.
The most exposed thing this job does is Plan and establish schedules, at 80.0%. The least is Assist workers in tasks, at 0.0%. A gap of 80.0% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within transportation and material moving occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 52 roles in the group is 24.2%, and only 10 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 22 tasks, 12 are currently banded exposed, 3 assisted and 7 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take cheaper ways to verify output, since the cost of checking is currently doing more to hold this work in place than the cost of producing it. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
22 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan and establish schedules. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | – | exposed |
| Maintain or verify records of time, materials, expenditures, or crew activities. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.90 | exposed |
| Prepare, compile, and submit reports on work activities, operations, production, or work-related accidents. | 58.3% | 29.2% | 12.5% | 3.82 | exposed |
| Requisition needed personnel, supplies, equipment, parts, or repair services. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 3.89 | exposed |
| Compute or estimate cash, payroll, transportation, personnel, or storage requirements. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 3.77 | exposed |
| Plan work assignments and equipment allocations to meet transportation, operations or production goals. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.07 | exposed |
| Review orders, production schedules, blueprints, or shipping or receiving notices to determine work sequences and material shipping dates, types, volumes, or destinations. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.94 | exposed |
| Interpret transportation or tariff regulations, shipping orders, safety regulations, or company policies and procedures for workers. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.17 | exposed |
| Explain and demonstrate work tasks to new workers or assign training tasks to experienced workers. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.96 | exposed |
| Perform or schedule repairs or preventive maintenance of vehicles or other equipment. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 3.86 | exposed |
| Enforce safety rules and regulations. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.51 | exposed |
| Recommend and implement measures to improve worker motivation, equipment performance, work methods, or customer services. | 30.0% | 45.0% | 25.0% | 3.82 | assisted |
| Recommend or implement personnel actions, such as employee selection, evaluation, rewards, or disciplinary actions. | 30.0% | 45.0% | 25.0% | 3.63 | assisted |
| Direct workers in transportation or related services, such as pumping, moving, storing, or loading or unloading of materials. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | – | exposed |
| Confer with customers, supervisors, contractors, or other personnel to exchange information or to resolve problems. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 4.08 | assisted |
| Drive vehicles or operate machines or equipment to complete work assignments or to assist workers. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 3.93 | untouched |
| Inspect or test materials, stock, vehicles, equipment, or facilities to ensure that they are safe, free of defects, and consistent with specifications. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.91 | untouched |
| Resolve worker problems or collaborate with employees to assist in problem resolution. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.11 | untouched |
| Monitor field work to ensure proper performance and use of materials. | 6.7% | 18.3% | 75.0% | 3.81 | untouched |
| Dispatch personnel and vehicles in response to telephone or radio reports of emergencies. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 3.81 | untouched |
| Examine, measure, or weigh cargo or materials to determine specific handling requirements. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.99 | untouched |
| Assist workers in tasks, such as loading vehicles. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | – | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean. 3 task(s) lacked a usable O*NET weight and are shown but excluded from the weighting.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 2.20 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.11 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.93 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.05 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.88 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.59 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.