Tech companies and truck manufacturers are racing to develop self-driving trucks, and many in the transportation industry have been worried about the impact that could have on the human workforce currently hauling our nation’s freight. A new study commissioned by the American Center for Mobility (ACM) says that – for now at least – truckers don’t have to worry about their jobs.
The ACM commissioned the study from Michigan State University and Texas A&M’s Transportation Institute. The goal was to see what effects all types of self-driving vehicles might have on the workforce.
Their conclusion was surprising, even for some at the ACM. While the study did find that drivers of taxis and other smaller vehicles could be heavily impacted, truckers’ jobs will be mostly spared. The study found that “only a modest number of drivers would be displaced, and that wouldn’t happen until the end of the decade.”
One factor is that the researchers don’t expect the technology to be ready for fully autonomous trucks until the end of the 2020s. Until then, they expect self-driving tech to augment a human driver, instead of replace them.
Once the tech is ready, researchers claim that autonomous trucks will be plugging the gap left by the current “driver shortage.” New autonomous trucks won’t be hitting the road fast enough to outpace the need for more capacity.
But the study only examined the next decade. After that, the outlook is a bit bleaker. Into the 2030s, the report indicates that workers may need to be retrained for new jobs.
“In the near-term there is great potential for these technologies to assist commercial drivers in safely operating trucks,” reads a press-release from ACM. “Longer-term it will be important to define, develop, and deliver targeted training for the workforce.”
shogun says
Yeah, heard it before. This is called damage control. What would be awesome is if every driver quit today and the autonomous trucks could start delivering freight tomorrow. You want to put people out of work, then hey just beat the idiots to the punch. Then all the engineering geeks could get CDL’s and cover dozens of loads a week. Ha ha ha.
Manuel Perez says
Not gonna impact workforce now but later it will heard it before vote on it now do what you want later
Maurice says
Just like self check out didn’t replace cashiers, ijs.
Donald Mickunas says
I’m not impressed with the effectiveness of the so called safety devices on trucks today. Worse, no improvements seem to be in the pipeline. ABS is a joke. It only works when all brakes are in balance like that will ever happen outside a test facility. The radar on Internationals that slams on the brakes for bridge struts and slows the truck so that effective passing is virtually impossible. Again, no apparent improvement in its reliability in years.
What can we expect in the future? More of the same slip shod design and testing but in fully automated vehicles? An even greater shortage of qualified technicians to repair and maintain these systems? More corners being cut on maintenance resulting in more system failures without human intervention unavailable.
The commitment to excellence in design, construction, service, and maintenance is lacking. This, more than anything else, makes automated vehicles a dangerously bad idea.
Rufus says
With so many enemies of my country, common sense says leave humans in trucks forever. You can’t hack a human driver. In times of weather emergency, you could get me to go off road to go around a fallen tree, but not an Auto-Bot. He will just sit with 4 ways flashing until everyone who needed him died of thirst or starvation. Humans need to use their brains and not their stock portfolios when making national security decisions.
Jordan says
From what I heard a person would still need to be in the truck to do other stuff aka pti, check in out,…sooooo what’s the point of self driving trucks..I get making a smart truck that can take OVER if a driver loses control ( falls asleep, medical event) but how’s a computer going to deal with backing into dock situation s . Customers say you first then you then you ok .. how’s a truck computer going to deal with so much stuff ,, it couldn’t .. IMO line hual on seperate roads ( self driving only )will be all they do for a long time
Edjahman says
Yeah thats what they say now. Corporations would love nothing more then to get rid of human drivers.
All of us drivers should have already revolted years ago for all kinds of reasons.
Maybe as things get more desperate for people, we will do a proper shutdown of this country.
Jordan says
IMO Companies will be forced to make their own truck roads along side turnpikes for selfy trucks only . They crash no public cops just those companies deal with it .. problem is product costs go thru roof to pay for it ..
Kathleen says
That’s an idea if everyone would stick together before it’s to late.
morongobill says
“No job loss”
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Kevin says
How about I take your life, throw it in the trash!
And ruin your career. Messing with people’s money will start a war
RenoBlues says
Probably gonna happen in five years then. You think they would tell us the truth? They need us to run these trucks until the very last minute of our day everyday. If we know when the end is coming then the majority of us will leave ahead of time and they’ll be screwed. I’m not sold on this, if they say ten years I’m planning on five.
MrYowler says
There will be no retraining. The average age of truckers is what? 50? The cost of retraining us would exceed the pay that the traing would enable us to earn, *if* anybody cared about our future earning potential, to begun with. Like the manufacturing employment sector, those of us who get pushed out will be left to fend for ourselves. Most will go broke and bankrupt, and lose everything including homes and families. Our losses are someone else’s gains – why would they want to protect us, when they can take from us, instead?
Rick says
Don’t worry about the job. Worry about the pay. Assistant to the automation doesn’t pay a living wage.
Retraining…that’s funny.
Red says
The only reason for millions of trucks running up & down the roads everyday is simply because we Americans love to buy stuff. If you have no money because a robot replaced you at your only source of income, are you still gonna be buying all this stuff? Nope… and if there’s no stuff being bought then there will be no loads of freight to move with the robots. I would like to think this is pretty obvious, but apparently it’s not. What’s the end game if the strategy is to replace humans and their paying jobs with computers or artificial intelligence that don’t need to eat or buy groceries, pay rent or a mortgage, raise kids, buy cars, pay for college, etc.? Should we just stop existing now or…what? Actually, it’s even a little bit funny if you really think about it. There are humans out there right now whose job is literally coming up with ways to end jobs for other humans! LOL! Would it not be smarter and easier to just “do away” with their jobs now and be done with it. I’m sure it would be a much smaller line at the unemployment office than it would be if all truck drivers get shafted. Just a thought…
Kathleen says
How about the computer geeks work on replacing themselves with robots and then the shoe would be on the other foot. Bet they wouldn’t like that. Yeah right if you believe the hype about retraining everyone I have some swampland in AZ. for sale dirt cheap. It’s disgusting how hard we work out here and get zero appreciation🤬
Chris says
I’m writing this as my sleeper-cab T680 with 53ft trailer is getting unloaded in the front parking lot of an open-for-business Safeway grocery store in the middle of downtown Denver. We had to wait a half hour for cars to move out of the parking spaces just so we could make the turn in, then had to stop a dozen times as entire families casually strolled right in front of us, oblivious. I’d LOVE to see an autobot do that. There would be dead stoners everywhere! Ok… so maybe autobots do have some benefits, lol.
Zagreb says
This just in:
Tech companies offer swampland in the everglades for sale.