Operate forklifts or other loaders.

Operate forklifts or other loaders. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 6 occupations and seen in 6 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Operate lifting or moving equipment. in Controlling Machines and Processes .

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 6 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).

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.

• Operate equipment such as forklifts. · Stockers and Order Fillers · importance 4.2 · no direct exposure
• Operate forklifts, pallet jacks, power lifts, or front-end loaders to load bales, bundles, or other heavy items onto trucks for shipping to smelters or other recycled materials processing facilities. · Recycling and Reclamation Workers · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Transport materials, supplies, and finished products between storage and work areas, using forklifts. · Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders · importance 3.9 · no direct exposure
• Transport metal ingots to storage areas, using forklifts. · Pourers and Casters, Metal · importance 3.6 · no direct exposure
• Operate forklifts to deliver materials. · Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic · importance 3.6 · no direct exposure
• Operate machinery and heavy equipment, such as forklifts. · Team Assemblers · importance 3.3 · no direct exposure

Occupations that perform this

• Stockers and Order Fillers
• Recycling and Reclamation Workers
• Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders
• Pourers and Casters, Metal
• Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Team Assemblers

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
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

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

@misc{singulariki-operate-forklifts-or-other-loaders,
  title  = {Operate forklifts or other loaders.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/operate-forklifts-or-other-loaders}
}