Direct material handling or moving activities.

Direct material handling or moving activities. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 14 occupations and seen in 18 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Direct organizational operations, activities, or procedures. in Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates .

Detailed work activities are the most granular shared layer in O*NET's work-activity hierarchy (Generalized → Intermediate → Detailed → occupation-specific task). The figures below describe how this activity shows up across the economy and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the work will be automated.

AI exposure

Of the 18 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 0 (0%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

The Anthropic Economic Index observes real AI use on 1 of these tasks, with a mean mapped-usage share of 0.004% per task.

Exposure estimates overlap with model capabilities — whether a model could speed the task up — not whether the work will be done by software. Observed AI use is augmentation and assistance today, not jobs replaced.

Member tasks

Occupation-specific tasks O*NET maps to this detailed work activity, most important first.

• Direct ground crews in the loading, unloading, securing, or staging of aircraft cargo or baggage. · Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors · importance 4.5 · no direct exposure
• Enforce safety rules and regulations. · First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators · importance 4.5 · no direct exposure
• Direct helpers engaged in placing blocking or outrigging under cranes. · Crane and Tower Operators · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Arrange for hauling of logs to appropriate mill sites. · Log Graders and Scalers · importance 4.2 · no direct exposure
• Oversee recycling pick-up or drop-off programs to ensure compliance with community ordinances. · Recycling Coordinators · importance 4.2 · no direct exposure
• Direct or coordinate crew members or workers performing activities such as loading or unloading cargo, steering vessels, operating engines, or operating, maintaining, or repairing ship equipment. · Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels · importance 4.1 · no direct exposure
• Issue directions for loading, unloading, and seating in boats. · Motorboat Operators · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Transmit and explain work orders to laborers. · First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Direct workers engaged in placing blocks or outriggers to prevent capsizing of machines when lifting heavy loads. · Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Direct crews to reload freight or to insert additional bracing or packing as necessary. · Transportation Inspectors · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Supervise recycling technicians, community service workers, or other recycling operations employees or volunteers. · Recycling Coordinators · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Direct or assist workers placing shore anchors and cables, laying additional pipes from dredges to shore, and pumping water from pontoons. · Dredge Operators · importance 3.8 · no direct exposure
• Direct ground workers engaged in activities such as moving stakes or markers, or changing positions of towers. · Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining · importance 3.8 · no direct exposure
• Supervise oil pumpers and other workers engaged in producing oil from wells. · Wellhead Pumpers · importance 3.7 · no direct exposure
• Give directions to laborers who are packing goods and moving them onto trailers. · Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · importance 3.6 · no direct exposure
• Direct other workers to move stakes, place blocks, position anchors or cables, or move materials. · Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining · importance 3.6 · no direct exposure
• Direct workers in transportation or related services, such as pumping, moving, storing, or loading or unloading of materials. · First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators · no direct exposure
• Enforce safety rules and regulations. · First-Line Supervisors of Passenger Attendants · no direct exposure

Occupations that perform this

• Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors
• First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators
• Crane and Tower Operators
• Log Graders and Scalers
• Recycling Coordinators
• Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels
• Motorboat Operators
• Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
• Transportation Inspectors
• Dredge Operators
• Wellhead Pumpers
• Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
• Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining
• First-Line Supervisors of Passenger Attendants

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.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

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

@misc{singulariki-direct-material-handling-or-moving-activities,
  title  = {Direct material handling or moving activities.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/direct-material-handling-or-moving-activities}
}