I'm Concerned About My Future Job Prospects Advice Is Greatly Appreciated

I am currently set to finish my CDL school.

My dad drives for a living and absolutely loves what he does. I would ideally like to follow in his footsteps and keep the tradition going. ( UPS tractor trailer driver )

However I'm questioning the future of this industry. There are companies like TU simple , waymo , and even volvo developing driverless trucks.

This scares me not only because of my dad's future / retirement but my own future if I actually decide to go through with this. I'm 22 now and am not sure if this industry is going to be around long enough for me to do this.

I have spoken to my dad directly about this and he seems like he isn't worried about it BUT he doesn't really keep up or understand the technology.

So lastly , is this something I should just feel stupid about worrying about?

If you want to drive a truck, drive a truck. You can't live your life worried about what's going to happen in the future. Automation is the way of the future and everybody is moving towards it. Just look at self checkout and menu kiosks. Technology advances and people adapt. It's been that way since the beginning of time. If you're concerned about the future, be smart with your money and avoid wasteful spending, but enjoy your life. There's always a balance.

Companies are working on driverless trucks, but they're decades away from brining that to fruition because too much goes with it. Being a trucker isn't just driving from point A to point B, the are a lot of nuances that make up this job. A lot of it is safety related and technology is no where near where it needs to be to cover that aspect. It's going to take a really brave company to be the guinea pig for this so everything has to be as close to perfect as possible. That's going to take a long time. The technology isn't where it needs to be to foresee a dangerous situation. For example, a truck can't stop at the drop of a dime so what happens when a person not paying attention walks into the street or somebody pulling out of a lot only looks in one direction and pulls out. I can see that from far and I start assuming that person is going to do something negligent and stupid.

Aside from that, there's also the energy issue. How does a driverless truck get fuel or a charged battery? How many miles does a battery last? It can't swap trailers so how does it handled a coast to coast shipment?

Driverless trucks a long way off, but you're young enough to do what you want to do and enjoy yourself. My advice to you is to do what you want to do and enjoy yourself.

Oliver Q,

Banks is correct. Don't worry too much about the future of driverless trucks. The truck can't drop or hook a trailer or set of doubles/triples, it can't fuel or recharge itself and it can't back into a spot to park. There will always be a person in the cab to assist with what the truck can't do. Imagine if the computer takes a "dump" while travelling the interstate and shuts itself down in the middle of anywhere? We are a long way off from any kind of future not needing drivers. Train, learn and persue your dream in following your father and make him proud. I did and a whole lot of us drivers did too. Good luck.

We are at least a decade, if not slightly more, from a truck not requiring a human supervisor (if ever). Though honestly, with recent advances in AI and 5G broadband saturation - sitting IN a truck and getting paid while the TRUCK DOES most of the highway driving, isn't necessarily a horrible thing either.

I'd be more worried at the moment, at the prospect of millions of "newly minted citizens" (22 Million+) - competing for a pretty cool job that requires NO EXPERIENCE (because EVERYONE gets trained in the beginning), and driving the wages DOWN.

Or the fact that states still act like they have NO IDEA that EVERYTHING THAT LANDS ON THE CITIZEN/CONSUMERS SHELF - GOT THERE ON A TRUCK - while they ignore the fact that WE NEED SAFE PLACES TO PARK AND REST.

I believe this is where we are going to be seeing the most changes in the industry in the near (rather than worrying about being automated from behind the wheel).

I feel bad for our youngsters. The future is very much in flux right now. With this panicdemic, globalization, shifting of global power balances - I have no idea what we're going to look like in a decade from now.

But you GO AHEAD AND DRIVE NOW - because "down the road" - is DOWN THE ROAD - and NOW IS NOW.

It's not a "stupid concern". I've seen a lot of changes in the almost 12 years I've been on this board. But the one constant is - THE DRIVER.

So go forth young Jedi and DRIVE...

Rick

We were supposed to be using flying cars by now. Ever see The Jetsons?

E-Readers were supposed to put printed books out of business. Not so.

Even if we get to driverless trucks, isn’t someone gonna have to direct them? Why not you?

As a kid, I wanted to be an auto mechanic. My Dad said the money was in computers and auto mechanics was a dead end. I’m now 59, computers get thrown away and replaced while cars still get repaired.

Whatever field you go into, continue to learn and grow.

Good luck!

Yeah, I hear ya Oliver!.. But I brought my concern, previous knowledge and smarts here too a few months back and am now a LOT less worried that this career is gonna change much for the worse anytime soon enough for any of us to be much affected by. Especially in the automation dept. Just this week I heard (on NPR "Marketplace"--anyone catch which company Kai said, or'd you hear elsewhere?) that one of the major car manufacturers has "ditched it's driverless car" program/project/research. Rest assured that they'd already made a big investment in it and wouldn't bail on it lightly, but only if well-informed it's just not worth their pursuing. Watch for others to follow suit, as at least some small ones already have.

As for autonomous trucks, the direct specter here, that's similar and probably at least as much or more problematic overall. (Though Banks, as far as fueling, etc., and other non-"driving" issues, most of that stuff could be relatively easily overcome; i.e., remember the old days when a "filling station" worker like Gomer Pyle would handle all that for all motorists? No biggie there.) The other issues raised are more relevant, and disqualifying... Did you read what BRETT has had to say about this? A lot, and I've now little doubt it's essentially sound.

You mention Tu Simple, based near me and which I've posted about before. They act all scary-on-the-horizon, but I agree that it's turning into, more and more, wannabe hype in order to keep the millions of investment bux flowing into their coffers. They're always advertising as if they have driver openings, but I'd almost bet my career it's mostly just part of the hype. Gives the less savvy public and truckers entering the field the image of a burgeoning industry, but there's no way they have a continual need for drivers unless no one wants to stay there at all. (They still have to have 2 humans on board to do their major road tests, and their fleet is tiny. The most worrisome aspect right now is the level of oversight and accountability involved in what they ARE doing. They're being WAY under-regulated, especially in terms of notifications of when and where they're on the roads...as if it's "No worries, nothing to see here anybody, we're just cruisin' along doing a little safe and important testing..."

Honestly the jobs like your dads, where everything is terminal to terminal are gonna be the first to go. But I agree with Rick, thats at least a decade away. Even farther for the otr trucks. There are so many things that we need to do that the computer just won't be able to do. Just the other day backing into a dock in Chicago. It was built for the old 48ft trailers with a daycab. Now they got 53ft with sleepers hanging out in the street. Those kinds of places aren't going to pay to upgrade thier docks for driverless trucks.

As others have pointed out we feel the technology is still a long way out. Look at how many issues Tesla continues to have with the co-pilot feature. Operating a tractor trailer is far more complex. Don't be afraid of losing your future job due to this. Local jobs especially will be far more difficult to completely automate in my opinion, although terminal to terminal i agree would be the first to go. I'll be 31 next week and am not the least bit worried I'll lose my job to self driving trucks before I retire.

Yeah, I hear ya Oliver!.. But I brought my concern, previous knowledge and smarts here too a few months back and am now a LOT less worried that this career is gonna change much for the worse anytime soon enough for any of us to be much affected by. Especially in the automation dept. Just this week I heard (on NPR "Marketplace"--anyone catch which company Kai said, or'd you hear elsewhere?) that one of the major car manufacturers has "ditched it's driverless car" program/project/research. Rest assured that they'd already made a big investment in it and wouldn't bail on it lightly, but only if well-informed it's just not worth their pursuing. Watch for others to follow suit, as at least some small ones already have.

As for autonomous trucks, the direct specter here, that's similar and probably at least as much or more problematic overall. (Though Banks, as far as fueling, etc., and other non-"driving" issues, most of that stuff could be relatively easily overcome; i.e., remember the old days when a "filling station" worker like Gomer Pyle would handle all that for all motorists? No biggie there.) The other issues raised are more relevant, and disqualifying... Did you read what BRETT has had to say about this? A lot, and I've now little doubt it's essentially sound.

You mention Tu Simple, based near me and which I've posted about before. They act all scary-on-the-horizon, but I agree that it's turning into, more and more, wannabe hype in order to keep the millions of investment bux flowing into their coffers. They're always advertising as if they have driver openings, but I'd almost bet my career it's mostly just part of the hype. Gives the less savvy public and truckers entering the field the image of a burgeoning industry, but there's no way they have a continual need for drivers unless no one wants to stay there at all. (They still have to have 2 humans on board to do their major road tests, and their fleet is tiny. The most worrisome aspect right now is the level of oversight and accountability involved in what they ARE doing. They're being WAY under-regulated, especially in terms of notifications of when and where they're on the roads...as if it's "No worries, nothing to see here anybody, we're just cruisin' along doing a little safe and important testing..."

I appreciate the reply!

I am currently set to finish my CDL school.

My dad drives for a living and absolutely loves what he does. I would ideally like to follow in his footsteps and keep the tradition going. ( UPS tractor trailer driver )

However I'm questioning the future of this industry. There are companies like TU simple , waymo , and even volvo developing driverless trucks.

This scares me not only because of my dad's future / retirement but my own future if I actually decide to go through with this. I'm 22 now and am not sure if this industry is going to be around long enough for me to do this.

I have spoken to my dad directly about this and he seems like he isn't worried about it BUT he doesn't really keep up or understand the technology.

So lastly , is this something I should just feel stupid about worrying about?

Follow your dad into UPS. I would haul package rather than freight. Stay with them for 20 or 30 years and retire.

They go Tango Uniform? Bail and reinvent yourself. You won't be the first person to have to do it.