Self-driving trucks will mean the end of tens of millions of jobs

Human workers being replaced by robots has been discussed at length over the past few decades, and while a few instances of this have popped up over the years, technology is only just now reaching the point where millions of workers will actually be affected. It hasn’t hit us yet, but it will very soon, and few industry’s will be as affected by this as the trucking industry and all the industries tied to it. 

The first road-legal autonomous truck made a splashy debut earlier this month. The Freightliner Inspiration Truck is shiny and new, but it will not be good for everyone. Autonomous trucks will destroy jobs, Scott Santens points out at Medium, killing the truck stop as we know it. Even if you reserve no particular nostalgia for truck stops, the effects will be devastating for local economics. Autonomous trucks will obviously replace drivers, an estimated 3.5 million of them, but they will make the business that cater to drivers obsolete, too. Santens writes: “Those 3.5 million truck drivers driving all over the country stop regularly to eat, drink, rest, and sleep. Entire businesses have been built around serving their wants and needs. Think restaurants and motels as just two examples. So now we’re talking about millions more whose employment depends on the employment of truck drivers. But we still can’t even stop there.”