Operate forklifts to deliver materials.

“Operate forklifts to deliver materials.” is a core task performed by Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. Among the occupation's 32 rated tasks, workers place it 8th by importance (#25 most important). About 48% 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.

• Operate lifting or moving equipment. in Controlling Machines and Processes

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

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 0.00. Automation potential label: T0.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Measure completed workpieces to verify conformance to specifications, using micrometers, gauges, calipers, templates, or rulers. · importance 4.7
• Examine completed workpieces for defects, such as chipped edges or marred surfaces and sort defective pieces according to types of flaws. · importance 4.6
• Lubricate workpieces with oil. · importance 4.5
• Read work orders or production schedules to determine specifications, such as materials to be used, locations of cutting lines, or dimensions and tolerances. · importance 4.5
• Install, align, and lock specified punches, dies, cutting blades, or other fixtures in rams or beds of machines, using gauges, templates, feelers, shims, and hand tools. · importance 4.5
• Start machines, monitor their operations, and record operational data. · importance 4.5
• Set up, operate, or tend machines to saw, cut, shear, slit, punch, crimp, notch, bend, or straighten metal or plastic material. · importance 4.4
• Adjust ram strokes of presses to specified lengths, using hand tools. · importance 4.4
• Position, align, and secure workpieces against fixtures or stops on machine beds or on dies. · importance 4.3
• Load workpieces, plastic material, or chemical solutions into machines. · importance 4.2
• Test and adjust machine speeds or actions, according to product specifications, using gauges and hand tools. · importance 4.2
• Set stops on machine beds, change dies, and adjust components, such as rams or power presses, when making multiple or successive passes. · importance 4.2
• Clean and lubricate machines. · importance 4.1
• Position guides, stops, holding blocks, or other fixtures to secure and direct workpieces, using hand tools and measuring devices. · importance 4.0

See all tasks on the Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 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-20821,
  title  = {Operate forklifts to deliver materials.},
  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-20821}
}