Parking Lot Attendants -- Sit-Stand Option?

Some variation of light unskilled work with limitations on standing/walking and even a sit-stand option (SSO) will frequently get a vocational expert to identify parking-lot attendant. The free DOT-SOC/O*NET Crosswalk from www.occucollect.com lists three DOT codes in the group:

53-6021.00-Parking Lot Attendants

DOT Code	DOT Title	SVP	Strength
915.473-010	PARKING-LOT ATTENDANT	2	L
915.583-010	LOT ATTENDANT	3	L
915.667-014	PARKING LOT SIGNALER	2	L

The list of DOT codes suggests that all the jobs are light, but that is not true.  The DOT lists typical performance, not maximum performance.  SSR 00-4p is wrong and does not survive application of Kisor v. Wilkie.  The quest involves proof of the strength and skill requirements.

The Occupational Requirements Survey reports:

Series ID: ORUP1000065A00000233

Not seasonally adjusted

Series Title: parking lot attendants; pounds maximum weight lifted/carried, mean

Requirement: Physical Demands

Occupation: Parking Lot Attendants

Estimate: pounds maximum weight lifted/carried, mean

Year	Period	Estimate
2018	Annual	21.94

https://beta.bls.gov/dataViewer/view/timeseries/ORUP1000065A00000233

Series ID: ORUP1000065A00000235

Not seasonally adjusted

Series Title: parking lot attendants; pounds maximum weight lifted/carried (25th percentile)

Requirement: Physical Demands

Occupation: Parking Lot Attendants

Estimate: pounds maximum weight lifted/carried (25th percentile)

Year	Period	Estimate
2018	Annual	7.46

https://beta.bls.gov/dataViewer/view/timeseries/ORUP1000065A00000235

Series ID: ORUP1000065A00000237

Not seasonally adjusted

Series Title: parking lot attendants; pounds maximum weight lifted/carried (75th percentile)

Requirement: Physical Demands

Occupation: Parking Lot Attendants

Estimate: pounds maximum weight lifted/carried (75th percentile)

Year	Period	Estimate
2018	Annual	34.57

https://beta.bls.gov/dataViewer/view/timeseries/ORUP1000065A00000237

Series ID: ORUP1000065A00000238

Not seasonally adjusted

Series Title: parking lot attendants; pounds maximum weight lifted/carried (90th percentile)

Requirement: Physical Demands

Occupation: Parking Lot Attendants

Estimate: pounds maximum weight lifted/carried (90th percentile)

Year	Period	Estimate
2018	Annual	44.11

https://beta.bls.gov/dataViewer/view/timeseries/ORUP1000065A00000238

The mean suggests that the average parking lot attendant requires medium exertion because the worker lifts/carries more than the maximum of light work, 20 pounds.  We also can find that most of the jobs are indeed unskilled.  

Series ID: ORUV1000065A00000065

Not seasonally adjusted

Series Title: % of parking lot attendants; svp is beyond short demonstration, up to & including 1 month

Requirement: Education, Training, And Experience

Occupation: Parking Lot Attendants

Estimate: svp is beyond short demonstration, up to & including 1 month

Year	Period	Estimate
2018	Annual	84.3

https://beta.bls.gov/dataViewer/view/timeseries/ORUV1000065A00000065

And there, the ORS runs cold.  To determine the availability of light work, we must resort to the O*NET OnLine.

53-6021.00 - Parking Lot Attendants

Exertional	%	Response
Spend Time Sitting — How much does this job require sitting?	18	Continually or almost continually
	9	More than half the time
	42	About half the time
	24	Less than half the time
	7	Never
Exertional	%	Response
Spend Time Standing — How much does this job require standing?	9	Continually or almost continually
	19	More than half the time
	45	About half the time
	25	Less than half the time
	2	Never
Exertional	%	Response
Spend Time Walking and Running — How much does this job require walking and running?	54	Continually or almost continually
	13	More than half the time
	6	About half the time
	18	Less than half the time
	8	Never
Structural Job Characteristics	%	Response
Duration of Typical Work Week — Number of hours typically worked in one week.	1	More than 40 hours
	80	40 hours
	19	Less than 40 hours

The majority of parking lot attendants walk/run all day long.  Potential for an SSO exists only in those jobs that permit sitting continually or almost continually.  That is how labor defines the SSO. Because of the lifting, some of those jobs might be sedentary.  Now we turn to the number of jobs reported by the Occupational Outlook Handbook:

53-6021 - Parking lot attendants

Typical Education Needed	No formal educational credential
Work Experience in a Related Occupation	None
Typical On-The-Job Training Needed to Attain Competency	Short-term on-the-job training
2018 Employment	150,700

We erode the 150,700 jobs by the number that are unskilled, 84.3% of the jobs, and get 126,588.  The O*NET reports that 81% are full-time, lowering that number to 102,536.  We now apply the percentage of jobs that are reported as sitting continually or almost continually in an eight-hour day, 18%, and get 18,456.  

The 18,456 number of jobs includes both sedentary and light jobs.  Without better data, further exploration of that division is not possible.  We can point to the broad description of Transportation and Material Moving Occupations (53-0000.00):

Series ID: ORUP1000048P00000661

Not seasonally adjusted

Series Title: % of workers in transportation and material moving occupations; strength is sedentary

Requirement: Physical Demands

Occupation: Transportation and Material Moving Occupations

Estimate: strength is sedentary

Year	Period	Estimate
2018	Annual	11.2

https://beta.bls.gov/dataViewer/view/timeseries/ORUP1000048P00000661

The proposition that some or most of the sit down parking lot jobs is sustainable.  Of course, the question is whether the vocational expert has a reliable methodology that beats cold application of statistics.