Will AI replace Transportation Inspectors?
Estimated risk score: 44 out of 100
Lower 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 (25 to 63).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 21 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 53-6051.00 · Transportation and Material Moving
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: 7 of its 21 rated tasks; the first 5 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Determine cargo transportation capabilities by reading documents that set forth cargo loading and securing procedures, capacities, and stability factors.
- Prepare and submit reports after completion of freight shipments.
- Record details about freight conditions, handling of freight, and any problems encountered.
- Calculate gross and net tonnage, hold capacities, volumes of stored fuel and water, cargo weights, and vessel stability factors, using mathematical formulas.
- Notify workers of any special treatment required for shipments.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 8 of its 21 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Direct crews to reload freight or to insert additional bracing or packing as necessary.
- Inspect shipments to ensure that freight is securely braced and blocked.
- Advise crews in techniques of stowing dangerous and heavy cargo.
- Inspect loaded cargo, cargo lashed to decks or in storage facilities, and cargo handling devices to determine compliance with health and safety regulations and need for maintenance.
- Observe loading of freight to ensure that crews comply with procedures.
- Measure vessels' holds and depths of fuel and water in tanks, using sounding lines and tape measures.
What the job is
Inspect equipment or goods in connection with the safe transport of cargo or people. Includes rail transportation inspectors, such as freight inspectors, rail inspectors, and other inspectors of transportation vehicles not elsewhere classified.
Also called: Cargo Surveyor, Marine Cargo Surveyor, Admeasurer, Cargo Inspector, Naval Inspector, Shipping Liaison, Freight Inspector, Loading Inspector.
Closest jobs we score by hand
In the same field (Transportation and Material Moving). Different jobs, each scored by a person.
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