Will AI replace Rail Car Repairers?
Estimated risk score: 15 out of 100
Very low replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (0 to 34).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 20 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 49-3043.00 · Installation, Maintenance, and Repair
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 1 of its 20 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Record conditions of cars, and repair and maintenance work performed or to be performed.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 18 of its 20 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Adjust repaired or replaced units as needed to ensure proper operation.
- Examine car roofs for wear and damage, and repair defective sections, using roofing material, cement, nails, and waterproof paint.
- Paint car exteriors, interiors, and fixtures.
- Perform scheduled maintenance, and clean units and components.
- Remove locomotives, car mechanical units, or other components, using pneumatic hoists and jacks, pinch bars, hand tools, and cutting torches.
- Repair or replace defective or worn parts such as bearings, pistons, and gears, using hand tools, torque wrenches, power tools, and welding equipment.
What the job is
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul railroad rolling stock, mine cars, or mass transit rail cars.
Also called: Rail Car Welder, Rail Car Mechanic, Rail Car Repairman, Air Brake Man, Plow Mechanic, Repair Worker, Coach Mechanic, Repair Laborer.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate