Truck Drivers Research Paper

The introduction of self-driving cars would wreak havoc on the US economy, forcing millions of Americans out of their jobs. Truck drivers, cab drivers, mailmen, van drivers, and others in the vehicle driving industry would no longer have an income. As self-driving cars are still in the development stages and have not been widely developed, there has been little impact on employment thus far, but we can expect an economic crisis if these cars are implemented in greater numbers in the future. The root of the problem lies with the sheer number of Americans that work by driving. 1% of the US population are truck drivers (United States: Humans Seek New Skills as Robots ‘Eat’ Millions of Manufacturing Jobs), and 5 million or 3% nationwide
Among 7.5 million working in the trucking industry, 3.5 million are drivers (McFarland). However, over half those in the trucking industry, 4 million, would lose their jobs and thus their income source. Although job loss is inevitable with this advance in technology, the choice whether or not to implement this new technology is in our control, and we can choose to save jobs. Similar to non-driving employees, commercial employees would suffer. With the use of self-driving cars, there would be less demand for dealerships, repair shops, and car washes, forcing even more out of work. You may ask yourself: “well, what are our
Public sector jobs created by a retraining program from the government would allow those laid off to get back into work quickly, and additionally, the government could provide adjustment assistance to help getting back on their feet an easier process (Greenhouse). The creation of jobs in call centers was another idea by Tasha Keeney, an industrial innovation analyst for ARK investment management. She argued that workers could manually control self-driving cars that were malfunctioning or “confused” (McFarland). Although the practicality of this idea is challenging, the idea that self-driving cars need new experts is valid. Jobs such as specialized mechanics and engineers could be created to help Americans learn how to operate and deal with their new self-driving