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Operate transportation equipment or vehicles

Work activity · O*NET

Operate transportation equipment or vehicles is an intermediate work activity in the O*NET database — a concrete task that recurs across many occupations , grouped under Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment. 86 occupations report doing it as part of their work.

What it involves

The most common detailed activities O*NET records under this category, ranked by how many occupation tasks map to each.

  • Operate vehicles or material-moving equipment
  • Drive passenger vehicles
  • Drive trucks or truck-mounted equipment
  • Drive trucks or other vehicles to or at work sites
  • Operate locomotives or other rail vehicles
  • Follow safety procedures for vehicle operation
  • Operate ships or other watercraft
  • Pilot aircraft

How AI is applied to this activity

Microsoft's "Working with AI" study mapped real Bing Copilot conversations to O*NET work activities. The figures below are their measurements for this activity — they describe how AI is used today in one assistant's data, not a forecast that the activity will be automated.

AI completes it successfully 100.0% When Copilot attempts this activity, how often it finishes the task
Scope AI handles 33.3% How much of the activity AI carries within a conversation
How often AI is applied here 15th pct Percentile across all measured activities by how often AI performs them

Source: Microsoft "Working with AI" (working-with-ai). A high completion rate means AI can assist the activity in isolation — it does not mean an occupation that performs it is being automated, since every job blends many activities.

Detailed work activities

The more granular units of work O*NET groups under this activity, ordered by how many occupations perform them.

Occupations that perform this activity

Ranked by how many of the occupation's tasks map to this activity.

Occupation Tasks
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers 5
Motorboat Operators 5
Rail Yard Engineers, Dinkey Operators, and Hostlers 5
Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers 5
Shuttle Drivers and Chauffeurs 5
Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers 4
Bridge and Lock Tenders 4
Bus Drivers, School 4
Fishing and Hunting Workers 4
Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity 3
Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels 3
Commercial Pilots 3
Subway and Streetcar Operators 3
Taxi Drivers 3
Coin, Vending, and Amusement Machine Servicers and Repairers 2
Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas 2
Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers 2
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators 2
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners 2
Light Truck Drivers 2
Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining 2
Locomotive Engineers 2
Sailors and Marine Oilers 2
Tree Trimmers and Pruners 2
Aircraft Service Attendants 1
Airfield Operations Specialists 1
Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians 1
Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers 1
Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics 1
Aviation Inspectors 1
Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists 1
Cargo and Freight Agents 1
Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment 1
Commercial Divers 1
Computer, Automated Teller, and Office Machine Repairers 1
Correctional Officers and Jailers 1
Couriers and Messengers 1
Crematory Operators 1
Driver/Sales Workers 1
Emergency Medical Technicians 1

Showing 40 of 86 occupations.

Exposure quadrant: AI task-overlap percentile vs Median pay AI task-overlap (horizontal) versus median pay (vertical), each as a percentile across all scored occupations, for 39 occupations in occupations that perform Operate transportation equipment or vehicles.. Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation. Lower overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · lower pay Lower overlap · lower pay Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators Tree Trimmers and Pruners Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers Aircraft Service Attendants Coin, Vending, and Amusement Machine Servicers and Repairers Couriers and Messengers Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers Locomotive Engineers Shuttle Drivers and Chauffeurs Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers Commercial Pilots Aviation Inspectors Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity AI task-overlap percentile → ↑ Median pay
Occupations that perform Operate transportation equipment or vehicles., by AI task-overlap and median pay

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Operate transportation equipment or vehicles." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/activities/operate-transportation-equipment-or-vehicles

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Operate transportation equipment or vehicles. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/activities/operate-transportation-equipment-or-vehicles

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-operate-transportation-equipment-or-vehicles,
  title  = {Operate transportation equipment or vehicles},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/activities/operate-transportation-equipment-or-vehicles}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.