Career Explorer Transport and logistics
Human edge, growing
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment
Wash or otherwise clean vehicles, machinery, and other equipment. Use such materials as water, cleaning agents, brushes, cloths, and hoses.
Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 90% 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 +3.9% by 2035, faster than average. The work leans on 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)
- $35,830
- Job growth to 2035
- +3.9%
- Openings a year
- 51,500
- People doing it (2025)
- 420,000
- Usual route in
- No formal credential, then short on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Prepare mixtures or solutions
- Purchase goods or services
- Connect components or supply lines to equipment or tools
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
- Operate pumping systems or equipment
- Inspect vehicles
What the work looks like
- Rinse objects and place them on drying racks or use cloth, squeegees, or air compressors to dry surfaces.
- Apply paints, dyes, polishes, reconditioners, waxes, or masking materials to vehicles to preserve, protect, or restore color or condition.
- Clean and polish vehicle windows.
- Drive vehicles to or from workshops or customers' workplaces or homes.
- Scrub, scrape, or spray machine parts, equipment, or vehicles, using scrapers, brushes, clothes, cleaners, disinfectants, insecticides, acid, abrasives, vacuums, or hoses.
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
- Fence erectorsHuman edge, growing, Index 91, +5.6%
- Tire repairers and changersHuman edge, steady, Index 91, +3.4%
- Aircraft service attendantsHuman edge, growing, Index 91, +5.6%
- Rock splitters, quarryHuman edge, growing, Index 92, +5.8%
Also known as: Automotive Detailer (Auto Detailer), Car Washer, Detailer, Reconditioner, Aircraft Cleaner, Bus Cleaner, Car Detailer, Cleaner.
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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.