Soon, truck drivers may fall prey to the robot era.

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    It is quite reasonable today to bring self-driving trucks to the roads. True, these will be difficult times for those who depend on the sphere of cargo transportation.

    For example, in America there are 3.5 million truck drivers, 5.2 million people who perform functions that are not directly related to driving, and millions more who depend on the trucking industry, for example, workers in parking lots and gas stations. Why is this so important? Because so many people who depend on this industry are likely to be unemployed in the future .

    This future has almost come . Trucks are becoming more autonomous. In May of this year, Daimler launched the Inspiration Truck, the first self-driving truck with a license to test on an open highway.



    Other manufacturers are also working on similar projects . Back in 2013, NEDO (Organization for the Development of New Energy and Industrial Technologies) tested the possibility of "caravan traffic" when a group of autonomous vehicles is driven by one driving car.



    In addition, truck drivers are relatively “expensive”, earning an average of $ 40,000 per year, which makes their jobs attractive for automation.

    Trucks often drive on long, relatively empty roads, which simplifies automation compared to vehicles that need to navigate in an urban environment

    Safety when developing highly efficient technological solutions is not just a trend, but a necessity, which, in fact, is sought by all world manufacturers. Volvo Trucks proof of this:



    Meanwhile, Samsung is testing its "the safety truck" on Argentina's roads:



    The idea that robots can take jobs from most professionals seems only theoretical. But this is until you look at the actual number of jobs at risk in only one industry — for example, road transport. Then everything becomes much worse.

    “We are facing a deterioration in the economy of entire small towns, a collapse similar to what happened after the construction of the interstate highway system to bypass entire cities,” said Scott Santens, a writer from New Orleans, in a recent post on Medium.


    He cites a lot of evidence to support his statement, starting with the fact that the freight industry is the largest source of employment in more than half of the US states. A truck driver is also one of those professions where people are still paid decently, even if they do not have higher education.

    "The truck driver is probably the last workplace where you can get a middle-level salary, while having only a secondary education. Truckers are essentially the last representatives of the impoverished population who were employed in production before their middle-income jobs were transferred abroad."


    Drivers often make mistakes: 330 thousand trucks were involved in an accident in 2012, 90% of which were caused by a person driving. According to forecasts, automation can contribute to fewer deaths and injuries, while at the same time reducing the cost of insurance and liability of trucking companies.

    Of course, this will not happen overnight. Daimler's truck still needs a driver in case something goes wrong. In addition, there are many legislative and regulatory issues that need to be addressed. But the shift has certainly begun, and this process is likely to end in the second half of the next decade.



    “In principle, the only real barrier to the immediate introduction of self-driving trucks is purely legal, not technical or economic,” says Santens.


    However, the question is what people will do for money when there is no work. Santens is a proponent of universal basic income - the radical idea of ​​eradicating poverty, which is gaining increasing support. By reading Santens, you can understand why we need such a structure of society.

     

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