Control Your Future

Jukebox I knew you would eventually self-destruct. All you wanted were replies in support of your platform. That's it,...no intelligent discussion or exchange of ideas and views. Just 100% compliance...

Just a couple of points to hopefully lend some additional perspective to this:

- Pilots do not fly commercial aircraft the way they used to. The true Rudder & Stick days are in the past. The job has evolved and has required the pilot to embrace new and emerging technology. They are basically in the cockpit for takeoffs, landings and emergencies; anything in between that could possibly malfunction or requires monitoring. Not too far from what you could expect as a truck driver in 2035, "if" autonomous technology becomes commercially viable, regulatory compliant, standardized, and prolific.

- Technology is not perfect, it fails. Why do we constantly preach total reliance or dependence on GPS systems is a not a recommended approach for safe and efficient navigation. CAUSE GPS SYSTEMS FAIL. Why is electronic data storage methodically and systematically backed-up, saved? Cause things break. Google "fault-tolerant" and "fail-over" computer systems, "back-ups" and "networks" if you don't believe me (you reading this Rick?) There is no foolproof, failsafe technology, impenetrable from outside forces hell bent on disrupting it's intended purpose. It's already a war,...you just don't realize it's unfolding right before your very eyes and ears.

- The OP referenced the hand-held phone as a computing device (example) that has it's roots in a mega-beast called ENIAC. Since ENIAC's introduction in 1946, computer technology has indeed evolved to a level of sophistication, economy, and availability that wasn't thought possible by early industry pioneers. It required over 60 years to arrive where we are,...but it's far from perfect. The market is flooded with flawed software and operating systems. Devices that are error prone. We are many decades away from true "driverless" technology, and even then I think it will only be useful in specific corridors, wide open spaces void of congestion and traffic chaos.

- Staging a job action to block automation in the trucking industry is not going to happen. Yesterday's newspaper, "literally". Look at all of the unions attempting to block or fight technological change or automation in the past 40 years; UAW (auto) and BLET (railroad) as two prime examples.

- Our industry is problematic; fraught with a myriad of uncontrollable variables. There is high demand and a shortage of qualified drivers to meet that demand. Furthermore there is incredible turnover and attrition adding to that problem. Throw in the safety issue, and thought leaders, business leaders and government officials begin to search for alternative operational options because our economic infrastructure depends on the uninterrupted flow of product and raw materials. Technology solutions are typically spawned out of need...not typically the inverse of that. The trucking industry needs qualified drivers and cannot keep up with the demand. Autonomous truck technology is one attempt to eventually solve a piece of a much larger problem.

"Being a Millenial with no hope"

"Idk who Alex Jones is but I listen to NPR, BBC, CBS & read WSJ. "

Wow. Were we supposed to take you seriously or have we been magnificently trolled? Back to your cubicle and Occupy Wall St planning.

Jukebox, it is very admirable that as a millennial you are looking and planning for your future, however i will assure you that when you get to that point the world will be a completely different place.

The issue of retirement will addressed long before you have to worry as in it's current state is unsustainable . But don't worry we will figure out a new system. Have faith.

Be forward thinking. Can we address pollution from cars by getting rid of them and go back to horse and buggy? Sure, but how about instead use technology to build a self sustaining hydrogen car that also cleans the air.

Embrace change and think positively. You'll be happier. :)

BRETT AQUILA and G Town both very critical of my thanks to BillTheSlink. Actually all the mods on this forum are very critical of users who post anything about these issues. Almost as if you don't want these issues talked about. I read through my posts and the replies and couldn't find where I alienated any group or made especially disparaging remarks but found lots of trolls and BRETT AQUILA telling me I was off the forum. Maybe it's what I said about Berner or zchneider??? Anyways I've sat back & ate a nice T-bone steak and enjoyed watching you guys get so worked up over a "niave" whippersnapper talking about big issues in the trucking industry. There have been several great replys since I last posted & G Town left a great response. So thanks to everyone who left great responses. I wasn't sure if anyone would be as concerned as I was about trucking jobs going away. From what I've gathered here the answer is "NO" & that I shouldn't worry either. Oh and some stuff about me being young, arrogant, niave, inexperienced, needing tinfoil & cracks about being a millenial. Brett Aquila you pointed out that I have no real solution for the problems and your right I dont. I know that west coast outfits are starting to go teamster and that on the other side of the pond lorry drivers have gone teamster. In france the lorry drivers were rioting! Knowing that others are already going to unions as a solution I posted that as a posible solution. A lot of people appear to be against unions, some drivers are for automation, some against, some don't believe it will ever happen & that we are apparently about as technologically advanced as we will ever become. Nobody really gave any better ideas than unionizing however. I mentioned some sort of lobbying group akin to the NRA to speak on truckers behalf. At the very least when technology and innovation is allowed to replace drivers some group needs to argue that it's throttled back and done slowly. I don't believe that it would happen slowly naturally. In my lifetime I have seen computers go from being huge boxes to the size of a calculator and now self-driving vehicles are on the table. All of that in less than 30 years which says to me that technology is advancing much faster than it ever has before & will most likely continue to do so. Faster than anyone on here is really willing to admit. Millenials have a lot of concerns about our future and providing for our families. We have seen Boomers and gen xrs run the world into the ground and if you look at the tv once in a while you'll see we're not happy about it and I am only one of many who is concerned for the future. Telling us to "sit down & shaddup ya mouth you arrogant whippersnapper" isn't prudent. This issue of automation should be a concern for everyone in my opinion. Millions of jobs outside of drivers rely on trucking and specifically truckers. Thats a huge chunk of the economy! Automation would effect more than just drivers and the only people to really benefit from it would be owners of large companies. Small dry van and reefer companies would suffer due to automation if not roll under altogether. Flatbed drivers would be very hard to eliminate and remain resilient but still a large portion of the industry would be effected. Read the Washington Post or WSJ and you'll find that people are predicting unionization of the industey & a sharp decline in employment due to automation. I'm not the only person talking about this and the more its in mainstream news the harder it'll be for coorporate reps to silence drivers questions about it. Whether you agree, disagree, concerned or not concerned I wanted to talk about it & see where the community stood on the subject and maybe find out of these were other solutions outside of unionizing. Nobody really has any ideas. Thanks for what answers I did recieve though & sorry that some of you are so upset by a young snot nose. And until by some miracle the gov fixes healthcare, Medicare & social security or they give everyone universal basic income like manna from heaven remember it's in everyone's best interest to keep millenials in mind & keep us employed & paying into those great social welfare funds!

And if this forum isn't for truckers to speak up or talking about issues bigger than how to pass the cdl exam, how do i hook up an inverter, or how do i run on split logs yeah this isn't the forum for me. "Young people should never trust anyone over the age of 30" Thank a boomer for that quote! I'm out! Stay safe out there drivers!

Ok so you're worried about automation because you heard them talking about it on tv. Wow, we're really on the edge of our seats now! Can't wait to hear more priceless wisdom you can relay to us from your television.

I mean, I haven't heard an original thought yet. You haven't said anything we haven't heard hundreds, if not thousands of times. I can turn on CNN or CNBC right now and hear all the same stuff you just said. Been hearing it for years. Nothing new. That's why we're not impressed.

Not only that, but anyone who comes here firing off your typical "trucker legends" like "small companies treat you better than big companies" and telling us they learned what they know from CNN and NPR well.......we already know you aren't going to have anything interesting to offer.

I've sat back & ate a nice T-bone steak and enjoyed watching you guys get so worked up over a "niave" whippersnapper talking about big issues in the trucking industry

You spelled 'naive' wrong. And you quoted it. You shouldn't have. And being arrogant on top of being naive is awesome. Keep at it young man. You're putting on exactly the show we knew was coming.

And really, don't flatter yourself about the 'getting worked up' thing. No one took you seriously from the start. Only I pretended to. The rest of the guys obviously didn't even bother to do that. We all knew what was coming. I just figured I'd let you make yourself look like an idiot instead of me doing it to you. So I lead you along with questions I knew you couldn't answer and you immediately lashed out. You started insulting us as a smokescreen to cover up the fact that you have no idea what you're talking about. Pretending you're the smartest guy in the room is just another tactic that's making you look worse. We see that tactic every day too.

Ultimately you had to admit you have no plan and you know what you know from watching television. And listening to NPR. Don't want to forget that.

So while you were enjoying watching what you thought was us getting worked up over you, we were really just smiling and thinking how adorable it is that you're all full of yourself and you want to rush out and change the world after watching a little bit of news on TV. Just adorable.

So we wish you the best of luck with that. Hopefully someday you'll actually understand the issues on a level deep enough that we can have a simple conversation about it and you can answer my questions instead of sidestepping them and then mocking us as a smokescreen to divert attention away from the fact that you have no idea what you're talking about.

So let's see.......did he cover all the bases we expected when he showed up?

Got his 'information' from television? Check.

Screamed your typical 'trucker legend battle cries'? Check.

Sidestepped questions or any attempts at a real conversation? Check.

Mocked us as a smokescreen to cover his inability to discuss the issues? Check.

Pretended to get the last laugh to cover up his embarrassment? Check.

I think he nailed it!

JunkBox wrote:

"Young people should never trust anyone over the age of 30" Thank a boomer for that quote! I'm out!

I really want to hear anyone under the age of 31 put this "wing-nut" in his place (Paul, Gladhand,...etc). Dude you are in serious need of a tune-up to your attitude. You just insulted about 80% of the people in this forum. So full of sh**.

Funny how you were crying in your first post, about having a couple of car accidents and how to get a start in trucking with something like that on your record. You said you thought it was wrong to consider car accidents as detrimental when trying for a CMV driving job. I don't remember you asking for only people under the age of 30 for advice. You trusted us then, didn't you. Eventually you are going to come crawling back here crying about how you lost your job. That's if you actually are a driver...which I am beginning to seriously doubt. You might have your CDL , but you're not a "driver".

So please keep your promise, be "out", and don't come back.

I really want to hear anyone under the age of 31 put this "wing-nut" in his place (Paul, Gladhand,...etc). Dude you are in serious need of a tune-up to your attitude. You just insulted about 80% of the people in this forum. So full of sh**.

Gladly, G-town. GLADLY!

*Begin sarcasm* All these old guys and gals (because, of course, anyone over the age of 30 is getting to be senile!) have horrible advice and can't be trusted! You're totally spot on, Jukebox! I figured out all by myself exactly how to be successful in the trucking industry. I never once got discouraged or frustrated. I never rocked the boat, had an accident, had a run-in with a dispatcher. I'm pretty sure Brett's bio is a bunch of hogwash too. Probably created this site so he could watch all the young-uns like you and me (I'm just shy of 24) take his "advice" and fail miserably when we found out he was full of sh**!!

*End sarcasm*

Jukebox, when I originally saw your OP I thought you were probably full of balony but waited to see how the conversation would go. I really wanted to see some original, creative ideas. After all, yes, automation is a hot topic for a reason and I'm concerned for my future too.

But after coming in here and insulting the very people who are here to try to help others be successful in the trucking industry, you lost my interest completely.

Please do us a favor and take your garbage somewhere else.

I really want to hear anyone under the age of 31 put this "wing-nut" in his place (Paul, Gladhand,...etc). Dude you are in serious need of a tune-up to your attitude. You just insulted about 80% of the people in this forum. So full of sh**.

I thought I did an okay job what with the robo trucker explanation, and Im only 27.

HAL9000ST makes a mistake, oops, just squashed mom and her kids... think of the legal and lawsuits. That in itself I believe will squash self driving vehicles in albeit very special limited situations.