What this occupation does
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers drive a tractor-trailer combination or a truck with a capacity of at least 26,001 pounds gross vehicle weight to transport and deliver goods. The role spans long-haul driving, local delivery, vehicle inspection, route planning, and customer interaction at delivery points.
The exposure score in context
The ILO 2025 refined Generative AI Occupational Exposure Index places heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the low exposure gradient. ILO 2025 places heavy truck drivers in the low generative-AI exposure gradient. Generative AI does not displace driving tasks; the displacement question for this occupation is autonomous-vehicle technology, which is a separate disruption category and is not the same as generative AI.
The mapping uses ISCO-08 code 8332 (BLS-published SOC-to-ISCO crosswalk). The full methodology, including the dominant-match rule for one-to-many crosswalks, is at /methodology/#algorithm.
The top five tasks, classified
The top five O*NET 30.2 tasks for this occupation, each tagged Displaceable / Changing / Growing per the Brookings 2024 task-level rubric. The tag definitions are at /glossary/#displaceable-task, /glossary/#changing-task, and /glossary/#growing-task.
- Growing: Drive trucks to deliver freight to customers. Driving is physical and contextually constrained; not in scope for generative AI displacement.
- Growing: Inspect loads to ensure that cargo is secure. Physical inspection is not in scope for generative AI displacement.
- Changing: Maintain logs of working hours or of vehicle service or repair status, following applicable state and federal regulations. Electronic logging is widely deployed; AI-assisted compliance reporting is augmentation-prone.
- Changing: Plan or adjust routes based on changing conditions, using computer equipment, global positioning systems (GPS) equipment, or other navigation devices. AI route optimisation is widely deployed; final routing judgement remains driver-led for in-cab decisions.
- Growing: Report vehicle defects, accidents, traffic violations, or damage to the vehicles. Incident reporting requires real-time judgement and remains human-led.
What is growing in this role
The BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034 outlook for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers is average (+4% projected change, +89.3k jobs). Source: BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034.
Per the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, the top three growing skills relevant to this role are: Resilience, flexibility and agility, Technological literacy, Empathy and active listening. The skills are mapped to the occupation's O*NET skills profile.
Brookings 2024 places driving tasks outside the generative AI displacement frame. Autonomous-vehicle technology is a distinct disruption category and is not assessed by this calculator.
Similar occupations
O*NET 30.2 lists the following related roles. Each links to its own deep dive where one is published.
- Construction Laborers
- Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
- Cashiers
- Registered Nurses
- Chefs and Head Cooks
Industry context
This role sits primarily in the Manufacturing industry. The industry-level rollup includes the cross-occupation exposure profile and the BLS-published industry-level outlook.
How this assessment was made
The full methodology is at /methodology/: ILO 2025 refined index for the gradient, Brookings 2024 rubric for the task tags, BLS 2024-2034 for the growth outlook, WEF 2025 for the skills demand. The pre-empted critiques are at /how-to-argue-with-this/.