Will Automation Make Truck Drivers Obsolete?

The self-driving truck market has undergone lots of changes recently. Many think the rise of self-driving technology will result in the reduction of jobs in the market. Let’s dive deeper into the topic and discover the right business funding for your company. 

Trucking Industry Automation & Business Funding

Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and robotics are bringing significant changes to the 21^st century labor market. According to some projections, autonomous vehicles will cut 2-3 million trucking jobs out of the market in the years to come. 

Uber has recently announced the company isn’t going to continue with its automated truck program. So, they want to stop their self-driving truck program and work on developing self-driving cars. 

However, there’re many other companies that go on investing a lot of time and financial resources in the space. E.g., big players such as Waymo, Uber, Tesla, Volvo, and Daimler Trucks are focused on launching bringing self-driving trucks. 

According to a recent study by Uber, millions of driver jobs will still continue to be available in the upcoming years. Moreover, with driverless trucks becoming more widespread, more drivers will be needed. 

What about your own trucking business? Do you need access to working capital? This is more than easy if you work with a reputable alternative online lender in your field. A true business funding expert can fast and easily approve you for the necessary financing at the cheapest rates. 

Truckers Won’t Become Obsolete: Reasons

According to Pew Research Center, about 3/4 of the participants in a recent survey are concerned that computers and robots could take most of the work that humans are currently doing. In fact, self-driving trucks aren’t something new. In Nevada and Colorado, they started making deliveries back in 2017. 

However, according to the Industrial and Labor Relations Review, self-driving trucks won’t take the jobs from drivers because of several reasons, and here’re some of them: 

• Truck drivers are caring out different kinds of tasks: they’re checking vehicles, securing cargo, maintaining logs, as well as delivering customer service. Self-driving trucks can’t complete many of these tasks. 

• Truck automation is currently focused on longer hauls. When it comes to potential job losses, only some 1/4 of heavy truck drivers, or nearly 450.000 drivers may lose their jobs as a result of technology becoming more sophisticated and reliable, and regulatory problems becoming fewer with years. 

• Truck drivers are operating in local areas, which makes them less vulnerable to level 4 technology getting more sophisticated for long hauls.

Overall, according to a report by the American Center for Mobility, shifting the workforce and public to automated vehicles will require significant and multifaceted education and training efforts.

To sum up, there’re concerns about the rise in automated vehicles that’ll take a significant number of jobs from truck drivers. However, a recent report shows that the impact on this job market won’t be huge. To take your truck business off the ground or take it to new heights, find a reliable merchant services provider that guarantees the best for your business. 

Author Bio:Michael Hollis is a Detroit native who now lives in Los Angeles. He is an account executive who has helped hundreds of business owners with their business funding solutions. He’s experimented with various occupations: computer programming, dog-training, scientificating… But his favorite job is the one he’s now doing full time — providing business funding for hard working business owners across the country.