Some parts of the country might be as little as five years away from autonomous trucks hauling freight across the highways.
That’s according to a new report authored by PVMI affiliate Steve Viscelli, a Penn sociologist and fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. Viscelli is studying the potential impact of driverless technology on the trucking industry. Although he predicts thousands of jobs will be lost in long-haul trucking, the loss will be somewhat offset by the creation of new “last-mile jobs.” “We’re going to need a lot of local drivers,” says Viscelli, because autonomous trucks in the near-term will not be able to navigate complex urban environments.
Viscelli gave an interview to Penn Today about the forthcoming report. Read the full article here.
Steve Viscelli is author of The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream.