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Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers vs Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers and Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$57,440
$48,350
Employment · BLS OEWS
2,070,480
139,180
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
45th pct
6th pct

At a glance

Dimension Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
Median pay $57,440 $48,350
Employment 2,070,480 139,180
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+4.0%) About average (+0.9%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 237,600 16,900
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Moderate · 45th pct Low · 6th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 45th pct · 25% of tasks 16th pct · 15% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index Automation-leaning (40.5%) —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Far Vision, Control Precision, Multilimb Coordination, Response Orientation, Rate Control, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Reaction Time, Problem Sensitivity, English Language, Near Vision, Depth Perception, Selective Attention, Oral Comprehension, Deductive Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Oral Expression, Information Ordering, Category Flexibility, Time Sharing, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Manual Dexterity, Static Strength, Glare Sensitivity, Hearing Sensitivity.

Specific to Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers

  • Transportation
  • Spatial Orientation
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Monitoring
  • Law and Government
  • Troubleshooting
  • Time Management

Specific to Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

  • Mechanical
  • Trunk Strength
  • Extent Flexibility
  • Active Listening
  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Speech Recognition
  • Speech Clarity
  • Equipment Maintenance

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Time accounting software , Data base user interface and query software , Analytical or scientific software , Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software .

Specific to Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers

Specific to Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers or Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

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. "Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers vs Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/heavy-and-tractor-trailer-truck-drivers-vs-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers vs Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/heavy-and-tractor-trailer-truck-drivers-vs-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-heavy-and-tractor-trailer-truck-drivers-vs-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors,
  title  = {Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers vs Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/heavy-and-tractor-trailer-truck-drivers-vs-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors}
}

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