Vehicle valeters and cleaners
Vehicle valeters and cleaners clean, wash and polish the interiors and exteriors of ships, aircraft, trains and road vehicles.
- Employees (UK)
- 14k
- Median annual pay
- £24,875
- Exposure score ?
- 0.5/10 Minimal 1.0/10 Minimal strict reading, with tools is 1.0/10 with-tools reading, strict is 0.5/10
- Wage exposure
- £17m £35m
Higher exposure than 28% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Where the work usually starts.
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgement, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where the work starts. Switch to With tools to see what AI plus the right context can take on.
-
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.
For this role the labels do not surface obvious candidates, so the work would start with the highest-stakes tasks below and find the AI angle in conversation.
-
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.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment" (53-7061.00).
What AI can already do
1 of 20 tasks, unaided
Maintain inventories of supplies.
What still needs a person
19 of 20 tasks
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.
Clean the plastic work inside cars, using paintbrushes.
Inspect parts, equipment, or vehicles for cleanliness, damage, and compliance with standards or regulations.
Mix cleaning solutions, abrasive compositions, or other compounds, according to formulas.
Disassemble and reassemble machines or equipment or remove and reattach vehicle parts or trim, using hand tools.
Pre-soak or rinse machine parts, equipment, or vehicles by immersing objects in cleaning solutions or water, manually or using hoists.
Turn valves or disconnect hoses to eliminate water, cleaning solutions, or vapors from machinery or tanks.
Turn valves or handles on equipment to regulate pressure or flow of water, air, steam, or abrasives from sprayer nozzles.
Sweep, shovel, or vacuum loose debris or salvageable scrap into containers and remove containers from work areas.
Monitor operation of cleaning machines and stop machines or notify supervisors when malfunctions occur.
Lubricate machinery, vehicles, or equipment or perform minor repairs or adjustments, using hand tools.
Press buttons to activate cleaning equipment or machines.
Connect hoses or lines to pumps or other equipment.
Transport materials, equipment, or supplies to or from work areas, using carts or hoists.
Fit boot spoilers, side skirts, or mud flaps to cars.
Tasks via O*NET "Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment" (53-7061.00).
What AI can already do
2 of 20 tasks, with tools
Inspect parts, equipment, or vehicles for cleanliness, damage, and compliance with standards or regulations.
Maintain inventories of supplies.
What still needs a person
18 of 20 tasks
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.
Clean the plastic work inside cars, using paintbrushes.
Mix cleaning solutions, abrasive compositions, or other compounds, according to formulas.
Disassemble and reassemble machines or equipment or remove and reattach vehicle parts or trim, using hand tools.
Pre-soak or rinse machine parts, equipment, or vehicles by immersing objects in cleaning solutions or water, manually or using hoists.
Turn valves or disconnect hoses to eliminate water, cleaning solutions, or vapors from machinery or tanks.
Turn valves or handles on equipment to regulate pressure or flow of water, air, steam, or abrasives from sprayer nozzles.
Sweep, shovel, or vacuum loose debris or salvageable scrap into containers and remove containers from work areas.
Monitor operation of cleaning machines and stop machines or notify supervisors when malfunctions occur.
Lubricate machinery, vehicles, or equipment or perform minor repairs or adjustments, using hand tools.
Press buttons to activate cleaning equipment or machines.
Connect hoses or lines to pumps or other equipment.
Transport materials, equipment, or supplies to or from work areas, using carts or hoists.
Fit boot spoilers, side skirts, or mud flaps to cars.
Stay on top of this.
An email when there is something worth reading: what is real in AI at work, what is noise, and what operators are doing about it.
Free. Unsubscribe any time.
Related occupations.
Other roles in Elementary occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons