Freight Forwarders
In short: today's best AI models could do about 95% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 5% of the time, stays with people.
Research rates, routings, or modes of transport for shipment of products. Maintain awareness of regulations affecting the international movement of cargo. Make arrangements for additional services, such as storage or inland transportation.
$52,260 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on38 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people2 h
Freight Forwarders, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 38 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 2 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Determine efficient and cost-effective methods of moving goods from one location to another (about 3 h); Analyze shipping routes to determine how to minimize environmental impact (about 3 h); Arrange for special transport of sensitive cargoes, such as livestock, food, or medical supplies (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 95%
- 3%
- 2%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 73%. Today's estimate: 95%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 31 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.039% to 0.047% (released February and March 2025); 0.014% to 0.027% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.039% | 314 of 708 | 9 of 31 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.047% | 279 of 703 | 10 of 31 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.014% | 410 of 655 | 4 of 31 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.02% | 382 of 672 | 6 of 31 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.027% | 353 of 677 | 7 of 31 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 31 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 31 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates almost none of this job's working time as physical work, so robots do not reach it.
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 31 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Determine efficient and cost-effective methods of moving goods from one location to another.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Analyze shipping routes to determine how to minimize environmental impact.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 2.1 h50 min to 4.2 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Arrange for special transport of sensitive cargoes, such as livestock, food, or medical supplies.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Review the environmental records of freight carriers to inform shipping decisions.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Assist clients in obtaining insurance reimbursements.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 2.1 h38 min to 5 h | 98%Half by now | |
| Complete customs paperwork.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Maintain current knowledge of relevant legislation, political situations, or other factors that could affect freight shipping.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Arrange for transport, using a variety of modes, such as rail, short sea shipping, air, or roadways, to minimize carbon emissions or other environmental impacts.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Consolidate loads with a common destination to reduce costs to individual shippers.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Recommend shipping solutions to minimize cost or environmental impacts.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h38 min to 3.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Arrange for applicable duties, taxes, or paperwork for customs clearance.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Prepare shipping documentation, such as bills of lading, packing lists, dock receipts, or certificates of origin.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 2.1 h | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Cargo and Freight Agents50% now, 50% by 2028
- Customs Brokers92% now, 93% by 2028
- Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks53% now, 53% by 2028
- Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors30% now, 30% by 2028
- Postal Service Clerks19% now, 19% by 2028
- Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance73% now, 73% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Freight Forwarders is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 95% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 95% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Freight Forwarders come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Determine efficient and cost-effective methods of moving goods from one location to another (100% of the task's time now); Analyze shipping routes to determine how to minimize environmental impact (100% of the task's time now); and Arrange for special transport of sensitive cargoes, such as livestock, food, or medical supplies (99% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Freight Forwarders stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Negotiate shipping rates with freight carriers; and Verify proper packaging and labeling of exported goods. Together such tasks are about 5% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Freight Forwarders?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 2%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Freight Forwarders?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds almost none of the working time is physical work, so robots do not reach it.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 31 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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