Fortune has an op-ed up today from the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, highlighting that human truck drivers won’t just co-exist with autonomous trucks, human truck drivers will thrive.
The thrust of the article is that the demand for truck driving is so robust, and AV trucking is so nascent, that human truck drivers will be able to progress in their careers for years, probably decades, to come.
The article also highlights all the new and high-paying jobs the AV industry opens up to truckers:
Currently, AV companies hire truck drivers with commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) to support testing and development, teaching autonomous trucks to drive safely. Additionally, the industry is creating new jobs such as terminal operators, fleet and vehicle technicians, remote assistance specialists, dispatchers, mapping experts, engineers, and more. These jobs are open to the full spectrum of skills and educational backgrounds.
One other point, that is a little nuanced, is that AV trucking should actually increase the demand for certain types of highly-desirable trucking jobs.
AV trucks are going to make their impact on long-haul trucking, from coast-to-coast, well before they impact urban trucking. Urban trucking is just much more suitable to human drivers, for a variety of reasons, including both the difficulty of urban driving and the non-driving responsibilities (e.g. freight handling) that urban truck drivers fulfill.
As AV trucks increase the amount of long-haul freight, demand for urban truck drivers is likely to soar, creating great opportunities for human truck drivers.
David Silver 