Career Explorer Transport and logistics
Human edge, growing
Automotive and watercraft service attendants
Service automobiles, buses, trucks, boats, and other automotive or marine vehicles with fuel, lubricants, and accessories. Collect payment for services and supplies. May lubricate vehicle, change motor oil, refill antifreeze, or replace lights or other accessories, such as windshield wiper blades or fan belts. May repair or replace tires.
Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 92% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is very low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by +3.8% by 2035, faster than average. The work leans on ethical judgement and physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work, and US employers are expected to hire more people into it than average.
- Median pay (2025)
- $35,670
- Job growth to 2035
- +3.8%
- Openings a year
- 12,900
- People doing it (2025)
- 102,000
- Usual route in
- No formal credential, then short on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment
- Purchase goods or services
- Provide information to guests, clients, or customers
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Maintain vehicles in working condition
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
- Collect fares or payments
What the work looks like
- Collect cash payments from customers, and make change or charge purchases to customers' credit cards, providing customers with receipts.
- Check tire pressure and levels of fuel, motor oil, transmission, radiator, battery, or other fluids, adding air or fluids as required.
- Prepare daily reports of fuel, oil, and accessory sales.
- Perform minor repairs, such as adjusting brakes, replacing spark plugs, or changing engine oil or filters.
- Clean windshields.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- More of these jobs, as automobile dealers continue to offer more vehicle repair and maintenance services and drivers increasingly prefer to take their vehicle to a dealer for servicing.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Crane and tower operatorsHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +3.8%
- Roustabouts, oil and gasHuman edge, growing, Index 95, +3.6%
- Helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workersHuman edge, growing, Index 99, +5.3%
- Medical equipment preparersHuman edge, growing, Index 99, +10.8%
Also known as: Attendant, Fuel Dock Attendant, Gas Attendant, Service Station Attendant, Dock Attendant, Dock Hand, Fuel Attendant, Gas Pumper.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.