{ "source": "Cooked Index — occupational AI risk register", "page": "https://cookedindex.com/jobs/recreational-vehicle-service-technicians/", "methodology": "https://cookedindex.com/methodology", "notice": "Verdicts are re-examined as evidence accumulates. Re-fetch before relying on this; the page above always carries the current score.", "scored_at": "2026-08-11", "model": "claude-opus-5", "occupation": { "title": "Recreational Vehicle Service Technicians", "soc_code": "49-3092", "category": "Trades", "us_employment": 17430, "median_annual_wage": 52000 }, "verdict": "EXPOSED", "risk_resistance": 60, "contested": false, "near_boundary": false, "dimensions": { "task_resistance": 16, "embodiment": 19, "liability_shield": 5, "trust_premium": 9, "judgment_accountability": 11 }, "reasoning": { "task_resistance": "Diagnosing why a slide-out room racks out of square, tracing a delamination back to a failed sidewall seam, or finding the one crimped butt-connector behind a dinette panel are tasks where the information you need does not exist until you physically open the wall — a 16 rather than 18 because the front half of your day (VIN lookup, service manual reference, warranty pre-authorization, estimate writing) is already being absorbed by software.", "embodiment": "Every hour is spent on a creeper under a chassis, on a ladder resealing a Dicor lap seam, kneeling in a wet bay pulling a Dometic absorption unit, or working inside a 95-degree coach with no shore power — a 19 because no two rig layouts are the same and the workspace is a customer's vehicle in a gravel lot, not a fixture on a line.", "liability_shield": "Nothing you hand back requires your signature under a state license in most jurisdictions; RVIA/RVTAA certification gets you a better hourly rate and warranty-authorized status with manufacturers, not legal standing — the 5 rather than 0 reflects LP-gas fitting and pressure-test rules that in some states do require a licensed gas fitter, and the fact that a bad propane test is one of the few things that can put your name in a liability chain.", "trust_premium": "Full-timers and snowbirds come back to the tech who already knows their coach's history and will call before adding a $600 line to the estimate, which is real repeat business — but at 9 the relationship sits with the dealership or the mobile-service brand more than with you, and most work still arrives through warranty routing, campground referrals, or whoever can take the rig this week.", "judgment_accountability": "You decide whether a soft floor is a $400 patch or a total subfloor replacement, whether a roof gets resealed or reskinned, and whether to condemn a fridge cooling unit on ammonia smell alone — an 11 because those calls carry real money and real safety weight, but manufacturer service bulletins, warranty schedules, and LP-test pass/fail thresholds set the boundaries you work inside." }, "rationale": "The work is crawling under coaches, pulling water heaters and absorption fridges, chasing 12V/120V shorts through wall cavities, resealing roofs, and pressure-testing LP lines — none of which a language model or today's robots can touch. What AI does erode is the paperwork layer: diagnostic lookups, warranty claim drafting, parts identification, and customer estimate write-ups that currently pad the billable day. There is no license requirement in most states (RVIA/RVTAA certification is voluntary, though LP gas work is regulated in some jurisdictions), so the moat is physical rather than legal.", "outlook": "Demand tracks RV ownership and the aging fleet, and the physical work stays human through 2035; expect AI to compress the diagnostic-lookup and paperwork portion of the day, pushing pay toward techs who handle LP, structural, and electrical specialty work.", "what_would_raise_it": { "levers": [ { "dimension": "liability_shield", "change": "State adoption of mandatory LP-gas appliance technician licensing covering RV installations — several states (e.g., Massachusetts, Michigan propane codes, and NFPA 1192/58 adoption cycles) already require certified propane handlers; if a state fire marshal rule required a licensed technician to personally sign the LP pressure-test and appliance-conversion record on every RV service order, the signature becomes a legally required human act with personal liability", "plausibility": "plausible", "would_add": 5 }, { "dimension": "liability_shield", "change": "Insurer or campground-association requirement that RV LP and 120V systems carry a dated inspection certificate signed by an RVIA/RVTAA-certified technician before coverage or long-term site rental — parallels the marina practice of requiring ABYC-certified electrical surveys", "plausibility": "plausible", "would_add": 3 }, { "dimension": "judgment_accountability", "change": "Growth of high-value lithium/inverter and 400V-adjacent EV-motorhome retrofits, where the technician owns the go/no-go call on thermal runaway risk and chassis grounding with no manufacturer-blessed procedure to hide behind; already visible in aftermarket Battle Born/Victron conversions and early eRV platforms", "plausibility": "already happening", "would_add": 4 }, { "dimension": "task_resistance", "change": "Task-mix shift: if AI absorbs the diagnostic lookup, warranty claim drafting and estimate writing that currently pad the day, what remains is the two-tier job's upper tier — water-intrusion root-cause tracing and intermittent short chasing in sealed cavities, which is genuinely undocumented per-unit work", "plausibility": "already happening", "would_add": 2 }, { "dimension": "trust_premium", "change": "Mobile-tech direct-to-owner brands (RV Mobile Service networks, NRVIA-certified inspectors hired by buyers pre-purchase) where the customer is explicitly paying for an independent human's eyes against dealer service departments — the pre-purchase RV inspection market already prices this", "plausibility": "already happening", "would_add": 3 } ], "ceiling_note": "The embodiment score is already near maximum and cannot rise meaningfully; the realistic headroom is almost entirely in liability_shield, and only in states that pull RV LP and electrical work under existing trade licensing. Absent that, the occupation stays a physical moat with no legal one, and the ceiling is roughly 70." }, "adjudication": null, "employment_history": { "points": [ { "y": 2017, "emp": 14780, "wage": 37200 }, { "y": 2018, "emp": 15560, "wage": 38160 }, { "y": 2019, "emp": 15580, "wage": 38570 }, { "y": 2020, "emp": 15150, "wage": 40520 }, { "y": 2021, "emp": 16030, "wage": 43560 }, { "y": 2022, "emp": 17190, "wage": 45030 }, { "y": 2023, "emp": 17360, "wage": 47950 }, { "y": 2024, "emp": 18710, "wage": 50540 }, { "y": 2025, "emp": 17430, "wage": 52000 } ], "from": 2017, "to": 2025, "change_pct": 17.9, "comparable_from": 2019, "spans_soc_revision": true }, "pivots": [ { "slug": "heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers", "title": "Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers", "verdict": "SAFE", "risk_resistance": 75, "median_wage": 61010, "overlap": 83, "skills_to_close": [ "Installation", "Management of Personnel Resources", "Learning Strategies", "Critical Thinking" ] }, { "slug": "plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters", "title": "Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters", "verdict": "SAFE", "risk_resistance": 86, "median_wage": 63800, "overlap": 82, "skills_to_close": [ "Installation", "Management of Personnel Resources", "Mathematics", "Technology Design" ] }, { "slug": "riggers", "title": "Riggers", "verdict": "SAFE", "risk_resistance": 70, "median_wage": 62640, "overlap": 79, "skills_to_close": [ "Management of Personnel Resources", "Operations Analysis" ] } ], "license": "https://cookedindex.com/terms" }