Read production orders to determine types and sizes of items scheduled for printing and mailing.

“Read production orders to determine types and sizes of items scheduled for printing and mailing.” is a supplemental task performed by Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service. Among the occupation's 29 rated tasks, workers place it 10th by importance (#20 most important). About 33% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Read documents or materials to inform work processes. in Getting Information

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E1. Direct exposure — a language model could plausibly cut the time to do this task by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 1.00. Automation potential label: T3.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Wrap packages or bundles by hand, or by using tying machines. · importance 4.5
• Weigh packages or letters to determine postage needed, using weighing scales and rate charts. · importance 4.3
• Verify that items are addressed correctly, marked with the proper postage, and in suitable condition for processing. · importance 4.3
• Inspect mail machine output for defects and determine how to eliminate causes of any defects. · importance 4.3
• Remove containers of sorted mail or parcels and transfer them to designated areas according to established procedures. · importance 4.3
• Sort and route incoming mail, and collect outgoing mail, using carts as necessary. · importance 4.2
• Remove from machines printed materials, such as labeled articles, postmarked envelopes or tape, and folded sheets. · importance 4.2
• Affix postage to packages or letters by hand, or stamp materials, using postage meters. · importance 4.2
• Determine manner in which mail is to be sent, and prepare it for delivery to mailing facilities. · importance 4.2
• Release packages or letters to customers upon presentation of written notices or other identification. · importance 4.2
• Operate computer-controlled keyboards or voice recognition equipment to direct items according to established routing schemes. · importance 4.1
• Accept and check containers of mail or parcels from large volume mailers, couriers, and contractors. · importance 4.1
• Lift and unload containers of mail or parcels onto equipment for transportation to sortation stations. · importance 4.0
• Answer inquiries regarding shipping or mailing policies. · importance 4.0

See all tasks on the Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service page.

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-task-13273,
  title  = {Read production orders to determine types and sizes of items scheduled for printing and mailing.},
  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/tasks/task-13273}
}