Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers vs Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators AI Risk

Job 1

Job 2

Job 1

Job 2

low risk

Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers

52 shared · 18 different

core competencies

low risk

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

Side-by-Side Comparison

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators leads 4–1

Metric	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
Risk Score	23.6%	18.1%
Risk Tier	Low Risk	Low Risk
Risk Percentile	16th	4th
Tasks at Risk (>50%)	8 / 15	0 / 15
Median Salary	$57,440	$51,650
Employment	2.1M	46K

Skill Comparison

Sorted by largest difference

Documenting/Recording Information

Scheduling Work and Activities

Communicating with Persons Outside Organization

Controlling Machines and Processes

Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work

Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships

Customer and Personal Service

Getting Information

Far Vision

Performing General Physical Activities

Response Orientation

Spatial Orientation

Protective Factors

Higher values indicate stronger protection against AI displacement

Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers

26%

total discount

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

25%

total discount

Task Risk Comparison

Tasks sorted by AI automation risk — higher means more automatable

Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers

8 of 15 at risk

88%Maintain logs of working hours or of vehicle service or repair status, following applicable state and federal regulations.

88%Obtain receipts or signatures for delivered goods and collect payment for services when required.

88%Check all load-related documentation for completeness and accuracy.

88%Collect delivery instructions from appropriate sources, verifying instructions and routes.

86%Report vehicle defects, accidents, traffic violations, or damage to the vehicles.

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

0 of 15 at risk

45%Light burners or start heating units of machines, and regulate screed temperatures and asphalt flow rates.

41%Start machine, engage clutch, and push and move levers to guide machine along forms or guidelines and to control the operation of machine attachments.

39%Observe distribution of paving material to adjust machine settings or material flow, and indicate low spots for workers to add material.

39%Fill tanks, hoppers, or machines with paving materials.

37%Shovel blacktop.

Wage Comparison

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators earns -$5,790(-10%) vs Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers

Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck DriversPaving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

10th

$38,640$38,030

25th

$47,230$44,740

Median

$57,440$51,650

75th

$65,520$66,060

90th

$78,800$90,110

Premium Head-to-Head Analysis

Displacement Timeline Comparison

Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers2028–2035

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators2028–2035

20242030203520402045

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators has a longer runway before significant displacement, projected 0 years later than Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers.

Risk-Adjusted Salary

Salary weighted by displacement risk: salary × (1 − risk%)

Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers

$43,884

from $57,440

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

$42,301

from $51,650

After adjusting for AI risk, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers offers $1,583 more in risk-adjusted pay.

Transition Feasibility

Skill Overlap

Low overlap — significant retraining needed for transition

Unique to Heavy

Unique to Paving,

Combined Protection Strategy

Regardless of which path you choose, focus on these protective factors

Creativity

Regulatory Barriers

Fine Manipulation

Social Intelligence

Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck DriversPaving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

Find transitions from Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers Find transitions from Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators