Couriers and Messengers

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.

The occupation of "Couriers and Messengers" has an automation risk of 59.4%, which is only slightly below the base risk of 60.0% for this field. This risk assessment reflects the considerable presence of repetitive and routine tasks in courier work that can be readily handled by automated systems or emerging robotic solutions. For instance, advancements in autonomous vehicles and drones have made it increasingly feasible to automate delivery and pick-up services, a core component of courier work. The prevalence of digital documentation also facilitates automation, reducing the human labor required for recording and tracking packages and deliveries. As logistics technology continues to advance, the efficiency and cost-saving potential of automation become more attractive for businesses, further boosting the automation risk. Among the most automatable tasks for couriers and messengers are delivering and picking up medical records, lab specimens, and medications to and from hospitals and other medical facilities. These tasks are highly repetitive and structured, allowing for easy integration of automated transport systems. Obtaining signatures and payments, or arranging for recipients to make payments, is also increasingly handled through electronic means, such as tablets or secure digital platforms that eliminate the need for face-to-face interaction. Recording information—such as items received and delivered as well as recipients’ responses to messages—can often be achieved through barcodes, mobile applications, and tracking software, further removing the necessity for human input in routine documentation processes. Despite these risks, certain tasks associated with couriers and messengers remain resistant to full automation. Tasks like performing general office or clerical work, operating duplicating machines, or running errands require a level of adaptability and human judgment that current automated systems struggle to replicate. Using the telephone to deliver verbal messages and collecting, sealing, and stamping outgoing mail using specialized office equipment involve nuanced communication skills and physical manipulations that automation has yet to fully master. Bottleneck skills such as originality, though only required at low levels (2.3% and 1.9%), further slow the complete automation of this occupation because even minimal creative thinking and problem-solving can be challenging for AI and robotic systems. Thus, while the occupation has a moderate-to-high risk for automation, a faction of its duties still demands human involvement due to their complexity or requirement for interpersonal interaction.