“Daddy, what’s a truck driver?” could be a question asked by children just 20 years from now.
Trucks that drive themselves are already being tested and have the potential to put millions of truck drivers out of work.
With Google’s self-driving car already logging over 300,000 miles, the self-driving technology is not necessarily new. However, using similar technology in large commercial trucks has the potential to revolutionize the trucking industry as we know it.
Rio Tinto, one of the largest mining companies in the world, already uses a fleet of robotic trucks in one of their mines. Their self-driving trucks have eliminated 160 driving jobs and they plan on increasing the amount of self-driving trucks in the near future.
Elsewhere in the world, in Japan, a company is currently testing their own fleet of self-driving trucks. However, these trucks are not just for use in a mine. They are intended for use on pedestrian roads and highways. The video below shows the Japanese trucks traveling in a convoy of four.
With the high industry turnaround and large marketing costs to attract new truck drivers in the US, it seems as if it’s only a matter of when, not if, these self-driving trucks will become part of the fleet of American companies.
Do you think there is a chance of your job getting replaced by a robot? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.