Pick up and deliver messages, documents, packages, and other items between offices or departments within an establishment or directly to other business concerns, traveling by foot, bicycle, motorcycle, automobile, or public conveyance.
U.S. Workers
71,920
Median Salary
$38,340
10-Year Growth
+8.2%
Annual Openings
27,900
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
17 of 17 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Obtain signatures and payments, or arrange for recipients to make payments.
AI: Fully automatable - Obtaining signatures and payments can be fully automated via digital signatures, contactless payments, automated invoicing and reminder systems or kiosks, and remote payment workflows widely available by 2025.
Record information, such as items received and delivered and recipients' responses to messages.
AI: Fully automatable - Recording deliveries, item inventory and recipient responses can be fully automated using barcode/RFID scanning, OCR, mobile apps and automated logging systems.
Sort items to be delivered according to the delivery route.
AI: Fully automatable - Sorting items by delivery route is routinely and reliably automated in many logistics operations using scanners, vision systems and conveyor/robotic sorters.
Plan and follow the most efficient routes for delivering goods.
AI: Fully automatable - Planning and following efficient delivery routes is a mature AI capability—route optimization and real-time navigation are fully automatable and widely deployed.
Check with home offices after completed deliveries to confirm deliveries and collections and to receive instructions for other deliveries.
AI: Fully automatable - Routine confirmations and instruction exchanges can be fully automated via integrations (APIs), automated messaging/IVR/chatbots, and workflow engines in 2025.
Call by telephone to deliver verbal messages.
AI: Fully automatable - AI-driven voice agents and TTS systems can reliably place calls and deliver verbal messages at scale today.
Open, sort, and distribute incoming mail.
AI: Fully automatable - Mail sorting and distribution are highly automated in many systems through optical recognition, conveyors, and robotic sorters, enabling full automation in typical workflows.
Deliver and pick up medical records, lab specimens, and medications to and from hospitals and other medical facilities.
AI: Partial - Physical pickup and secure handling of medical records, specimens, and medications involve chain-of-custody, biohazard and regulatory constraints and dexterous handling that limit full automation by 2025, though partial automation (scheduled pickups, routing, robotic couriers in controlled settings) is possible.
Receive messages or materials to be delivered, and information on recipients, such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, and delivery instructions, communicated via telephone, two-way radio, or in person.
AI: Partial - Receiving messages and information can be fully automated via phone/voice systems and digital intake, but physically receiving materials still requires human or robotic handling, so overall capability is partial.
Load vehicles with listed goods, ensuring goods are loaded correctly and taking precautions with hazardous goods.
AI: Partial - Loading vehicles, especially when hazardous goods and careful placement are required, involves complex physical manipulation and safety judgment that remains only partially automatable with current robotics and oversight.
Walk, ride bicycles, drive vehicles, or use public conveyances to reach destinations to deliver messages or materials.
AI: Partial - Transporting to destinations involves physical movement that is partially automatable with drones and autonomous vehicles in limited settings, but is not universally replaceable by AI alone by 2025.
Deliver messages and items, such as newspapers, documents, and packages, between establishment departments, and to other establishments and private homes.
AI: Partial - Physical delivery of messages and items to departments, establishments and homes requires hands-on transfer and navigation in varied environments, so automation is partial though supported by autonomous delivery in constrained contexts.
Unload and sort items collected along delivery routes.
AI: Partial - Unloading and sorting items collected along routes can be partially automated in depot environments, but variable on-site conditions and manual handling needs limit full automation.
Collect, seal, and stamp outgoing mail, using postage meters and envelope sealers.
AI: Partial - Postage meters and envelope sealers can be controlled and scheduled by software/robots, but collecting and handling physical outgoing mail often still requires human oversight or hardware not universally available.
Perform general office or clerical work such as filing materials, operating duplicating machines, or running errands.
AI: Partial - Clerical tasks like digital filing and device operation can be automated, but physical errands and some manual filing/handling still require humans.
Perform routine maintenance on delivery vehicles, such as monitoring fluid levels and replenishing fuel.
AI: Partial - AI can monitor sensors, predict maintenance needs, and schedule refueling, but cannot physically perform fluid top-ups or fuel replenishment without specialized robotics or human intervention.
Unload goods from large trucks, and load them onto smaller delivery vehicles.
AI: Partial - Some mechanized and robotic solutions can move pallets and goods in controlled settings, but fully automated unloading/loading across varied truck types and contexts is not broadly achievable yet.