{"name":"Autonomous Vehicle and Drone Operator Work (live data, 12 Sep 2026 to 9 Oct 2026)","question":"How is the work of operating autonomous cars, trucks, drones and vessels split, what does each pay and what licences does it require?","source":"The public job boards of the robot training employers and programs this site tracks, read every day. Vehicles are read from role titles; licences from the full descriptions; apply clicks are made on RobotTraining.jobs.","publisher":"RobotTraining.jobs","url":"https://robottraining.jobs/research/vehicle-and-drone-operator-work","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","citation":"RobotTraining.jobs (2026). Autonomous Vehicle and Drone Operator Work (live data, 12 Sep 2026 to 9 Oct 2026). https://robottraining.jobs/research/vehicle-and-drone-operator-work (accessed 10 Oct 2026)","frozen_at":null,"report":"vehicle-and-drone-operator-work","method":1,"edition":null,"window":{"from":"2026-09-12","to":"2026-10-09","days":28},"computedAt":"2026-10-10T21:13:49.533Z","summary":"On 9 Oct 2026, 347 open AV & Drone Operators roles named a vehicle in their title: 281 for cars and robotaxis, 35 for autonomous trucks and 31 for drones and aircraft; autonomous trucks advertised the highest median pay ($35/hr).","stats":[{"id":"vehicle-roles","value":"347","label":"open AV & Drone Operators roles naming a vehicle","figure":"vehicle-open-roles"},{"id":"top-vehicle","value":"281","label":"open roles for cars and robotaxis, the largest market","figure":"vehicle-open-roles"},{"id":"aerial","value":"31","label":"open drone and aircraft operator roles","figure":"vehicle-open-roles"},{"id":"top-paid-vehicle","value":"$35/hr","label":"median for autonomous trucks, the best-paid market","figure":"vehicle-pay"}],"findings":[{"id":"most-open-vehicle","figure":"vehicle-open-roles","text":"Cars and robotaxis (281), Autonomous trucks (35) and Drones and aircraft (31) had the most open roles on 9 Oct 2026, of the 3 vehicles named in role titles."},{"id":"vehicles-named","figure":"vehicle-open-roles","text":"98.9% of the 351 open AV & Drone Operators roles name a vehicle in their title; the other 4 name none (often a robotics or operations technician whose description mentions vehicle work)."}],"figures":[{"id":"vehicle-open-roles","title":"Open roles by vehicle","question":"How many operator roles are there for cars and robotaxis, trucks, drones and vessels?","columns":[{"key":"group","label":"Market","unit":"text"},{"key":"open","label":"Open on 9 Oct 2026","unit":"count","bar":true},{"key":"new","label":"New listings","unit":"count"},{"key":"platforms","label":"Employers","unit":"count","secondary":true},{"key":"change","label":"Change","unit":"percent","signed":true,"secondary":true}],"rows":[{"key":"car","thin":true,"cells":{"group":"Cars and robotaxis","open":281,"new":16,"platforms":10,"change":null}},{"key":"truck","thin":true,"cells":{"group":"Autonomous trucks","open":35,"new":6,"platforms":7,"change":null}},{"key":"aerial","thin":true,"cells":{"group":"Drones and aircraft","open":31,"new":16,"platforms":10,"change":null}}],"sample":"347 of the 351 vehicle and drone operator roles open at the end of 9 Oct 2026 name a vehicle in their title; 3 markets have open roles. New listings from 12 Sep 2026 to 9 Oct 2026.","notes":["A role counts for a vehicle when it is AV & Drone Operators work and its title names the vehicle (for example 'Autonomous Vehicle Safety Operator', 'Class A CDL Driver', 'UAS Drone Pilot', 'ASV Operator'). Road roles whose title names a truck, a CDL or Class A count as trucks. A title naming no vehicle, or both a road and an aerial one, counts for none.","Change compares open roles at the start and the end of the window on the employers tracked throughout; it is marked as a small sample under 10 roles at the start."]},{"id":"vehicle-pay","title":"Advertised hourly pay by vehicle","question":"Which vehicle pays its operators the most?","columns":[{"key":"group","label":"Market","unit":"text"},{"key":"median","label":"Median per hour","unit":"usd","bar":true},{"key":"band","label":"Middle half","unit":"text"},{"key":"priced","label":"Roles stating pay","unit":"count","secondary":true}],"rows":[{"key":"truck","thin":false,"cells":{"group":"Autonomous trucks","median":35,"band":"$32 to $35","priced":19}},{"key":"car","thin":false,"cells":{"group":"Cars and robotaxis","median":27,"band":"$26 to $28","priced":8}}],"sample":"Roles open on 9 Oct 2026 that state an hourly rate; markets with at least 8 such roles.","notes":["Pay is the hourly figure the posting advertises (the middle of a stated range). The middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile."]},{"id":"vehicle-applicant-demand","title":"Applicant demand per open role, by vehicle","question":"Which vehicle draws the most applicants per opening, and which is short of them?","columns":[{"key":"group","label":"Market","unit":"text"},{"key":"rate","label":"Clicks per role a week","unit":"decimal","decimals":2,"bar":true},{"key":"index","label":"Index","unit":"index","decimals":2},{"key":"clicks","label":"Clicks","unit":"count","secondary":true},{"key":"avg","label":"Avg open roles","unit":"count","secondary":true}],"rows":[{"key":"truck","thin":true,"cells":{"group":"Autonomous trucks","rate":0.03,"index":0.45,"clicks":4,"avg":32}},{"key":"car","thin":true,"cells":{"group":"Cars and robotaxis","rate":0.01,"index":0.13,"clicks":10,"avg":269}},{"key":"aerial","thin":true,"cells":{"group":"Drones and aircraft","rate":0,"index":0,"clicks":0,"avg":13}}],"sample":"Apply clicks on RobotTraining.jobs on roles naming each market, from 12 Sep 2026 to 9 Oct 2026, against the days those roles were open.","notes":["Clicks per role a week = apply clicks / (open role-days / 7). Index 1.00 is the average across every open role on the site.","Rows with fewer than 30 clicks or 3 roles open on an average day are marked as a small sample.","RobotTraining.jobs shows visitors the roles open in their country first, which affects roles limited to some countries."]},{"id":"vehicle-employers","title":"Who hires for each vehicle","question":"Is each vehicle's hiring spread across employers or held by one?","columns":[{"key":"group","label":"Market","unit":"text"},{"key":"lead","label":"Largest employer","unit":"text"},{"key":"leadShare","label":"Its share","unit":"percent","bar":true},{"key":"platforms","label":"Employers listing","unit":"count"}],"rows":[{"key":"car","thin":false,"cells":{"group":"Cars and robotaxis","platforms":10,"lead":"TSMG","leadShare":91.1}},{"key":"truck","thin":false,"cells":{"group":"Autonomous trucks","platforms":7,"lead":"TSMG","leadShare":28.6}},{"key":"aerial","thin":false,"cells":{"group":"Drones and aircraft","platforms":10,"lead":"Anduril Industries","leadShare":22.6}}],"sample":"Roles open on 9 Oct 2026, by the employer that lists them.","notes":["A high share means one employer holds most of the openings: an applicant has few alternatives, and that employer sets the going rate."]},{"id":"vehicle-location-rules","title":"Where each vehicle's roles are open","question":"Can operators apply from anywhere, or only from some countries?","columns":[{"key":"group","label":"Market","unit":"text"},{"key":"global","label":"Open worldwide","unit":"percent","bar":true},{"key":"include","label":"Only listed countries","unit":"percent"},{"key":"open","label":"Open roles","unit":"count","secondary":true}],"rows":[{"key":"aerial","thin":false,"cells":{"group":"Drones and aircraft","global":0,"include":100,"open":31}},{"key":"car","thin":false,"cells":{"group":"Cars and robotaxis","global":0,"include":100,"open":281}},{"key":"truck","thin":false,"cells":{"group":"Autonomous trucks","global":0,"include":100,"open":35}}],"sample":"Roles open on 9 Oct 2026; shares of each market's own open roles.","notes":["The rule is read from each posting's location text. The rest of each row is roles open worldwide except some countries, or with no rule stated."]},{"id":"vehicle-requirements","title":"What each vehicle's roles require","question":"Which licences, checks and minimum ages does each kind of vehicle work require?","columns":[{"key":"group","label":"Market","unit":"text"},{"key":"drivers-license","label":"Driver's license","unit":"percent","heat":true},{"key":"cdl","label":"CDL","unit":"percent","heat":true},{"key":"part-107","label":"FAA Part 107","unit":"percent","heat":true},{"key":"pilot-license","label":"Pilot license","unit":"percent","heat":true},{"key":"age-21","label":"Minimum age 21 or more","unit":"percent","heat":true},{"key":"background","label":"Background check","unit":"percent","heat":true},{"key":"drug","label":"Drug test","unit":"percent","heat":true},{"key":"degree","label":"College degree","unit":"percent","heat":true},{"key":"n","label":"Roles read","unit":"count","secondary":true}],"rows":[],"sample":"0 vehicle and drone operator roles open on 9 Oct 2026 whose job board publishes a full description, by the vehicle their title names.","notes":["Read with the requirements report's reader: a licence, an age or a check counts only when the description requires it (a preference does not), except the drug test, which counts wherever it is mentioned.","Rows with fewer than 10 roles read are marked as a small sample."]}]}