Will a Robot Take My Job?

Out here on the mountainous western edge of this great country, 661 truck driving jobs remain vacant.

Why would a job as interesting as trucking be so unattractive that there are so many vacancies — especially when the workforce is rapidly aging? Is it the fear of technology rendering these jobs redundant within our lifetime?

How real is this possibility? 

Limited application of autonomous trucks is already a reality. Suncor Energy is engaged in a pilot project in the Alberta oilsands, and Rio Tinto deploys driverless trucks at some of its mining operations in Australia. These trucks are strictly operated on industrial property, but what about operating on public roads? The expectation is that on certain highway corridors, some application of self-driving trucks may be possible.

Industry experts believe that a mix of autonomous and driver-operated trucks will be the answer to a driver shortage in North America that is expected to number 200,000 by 2020. The introduction of a limited application of driverless trucks on public roads is seen as the only way to maintain a logistics system that, based on current trends on the availability of professional drivers, will be crippled before the next decade is over. Autonomous trucks are expected to partially fill the gap, not replace the driving workforce.

So, will there be plenty of well-paying truck driving jobs in the future? Absolutely. While driverless vehicles are becoming a reality, we’re still years away from The Terminator.