How Heavy Duty Applications of Automated Vehicles affects Education and Workforce

Studies considering the impacts of automated trucks on the workforce find that automation may first effect long-haul trucking or over-the-road drivers [1]. These drivers travel throughout a region or the continental United States for work, typically on a limited set of federal interstates and highways. Wang et al. [2] suggest assessing the potential for job displacement by looking at growth in alternative positions with similar requirements for skills, knowledge, and abilities in a truck operator’s home state. According to their study, only 10 states have sufficient alternative employment opportunities to absorb a greater than 15% displacement in truck driving jobs, indicating a need for worker retraining if trucking displacements.

A survey of trucking logistics managers, supervisors, and drivers found that drivers were the most likely to believe that automated trucks would reduce the size of the U.S. truck driving workforce (62%), followed by supervisors (50%), and managers (25%) [3]. Interviewees in this study noted that they thought the introduction of additional technologies into trucking, such as automation, would lead to a shift towards younger drivers rather than older drivers.

References

  1. M. Gittleman and K. Monaco, “Truck-Driving Jobs: Are They Headed for Rapid Elimination?,” ILR Rev., vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 3–24, Jan. 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793919858079.

  2. S. Wang et al., “Assessing alternative occupations for truck drivers in an emerging era of autonomous vehicles,” Transp. Res. Interdiscip. Perspect., vol. 19, p. 100793, May 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.trip.2023.100793.

  3. A. M. Schuster et al., “Will automated vehicles solve the truck driver shortages? Perspectives from the trucking industry,” Technol. Soc., vol. 74, p. 102313, Aug. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102313.

Related Literature Reviews

See Literature Reviews on Heavy Duty Applications of Automated Vehicles

See Literature Reviews on Education and Workforce

Note: Mobility COE research partners conducted this literature review in Spring of 2024 based on research available at the time. Unless otherwise noted, this content has not been updated to reflect newer research.

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