Is There A Future For New CDL Drivers? I've Heard Soon Robots Will Replace Us All.

The way I see it is companies want to save as much as possible, so it is cheaper to have human driven trucks. Honestly only some of the big boys could afford the first generation of the autonomous truck and I think it would cut too deep into profits. If anything cruise control will get better and better, but we will still need to be at the wheel.

And in the 50s and 60s they said we'd have flying cars like the Jetsons.

But I've decided to turn in my CDL right now. People keep posting how my job won't be here by the time I die. I'll.just give up right now.

"In our lifetime" is a relative phrase. I'm 55yrs old and just started driving two years ago. Given that so many new drivers, reportedly, are over 40, "in our lifetime" may not be that big a concern. 😆

"In our lifetime" is a relative phrase. I'm 55yrs old and just started driving two years ago. Given that so many new drivers, reportedly, are over 40, "in our lifetime" may not be that big a concern. 😆

Im 56. Want to drive for 10-12 years. It does not worry me a bit. If you are 30 it shouldn't worry you either. Gotta go feed Astro and take Jane and the kids for a fly in the car.

To add to what Patrick said. I worked for McDonnell Douglas in the early 90s, delivering MD-11s to customers. Those airplanes could take themselves from pushback at the gate to taxi into the gate at their destination. They could completely fly themselves. They still had to have a fully trained and qualified crew to be on board and at the controls at all times.

There is a very good reason not to fully trust machines, and we don't. And autonomous trucks are a long way from being road ready, as anyone who has had their collision avoidance system slam on the brakes because of someone in the development lane,slowing down can tell you.

as anyone who has had their collision avoidance system slam on the brakes because of someone in the development lane,slowing down can tell you.

Mine likes to do that with Bridge Abutments that I AM NOT heading towards from time to time.

Is it true during our lifetime? It seems it will never happen but you know when technology once sets in everything changes unbelievably quick. I've seen this happening to other industries.

No. Here,s why. Watchdog Group: Get Uber Self-Driving Trucks Off The Road

At some point MOST (if not ALL) jobs will be automated. Machines can run 24/7, don't need a coffee break and won't sue you because they heard someone use a bad word. While truck driving is on the block it won't happen anytime soon. The industry in general looks at new technology as witchcraft and is slow to adopt new anything. Backing cameras? Collision-avoidance radar?

You'll see cashiers go away, Amazon become the largest brick and mortar retailer in the U.S., Wal-Mart become the next Sears before truck drivers go.

You'll see fast food workers go away before truck drivers go.

You'll see government workers go away before truck drivers go.

The only thing slower to change than the trucking industry is government's investment in infrastructure. How many bridges, ramps, freeways, loading docks do we see every day that are past their prime? Imagine Otto, or some other automated trucking company, announcing they have a truck that drives itself - it just needs a 4" magnet put in the pavement every 5' so the truck knows where the fog line is when it's covered in snow. The federal government might start requiring new construction to have that feature but it will be decades before enough roads have it to be useful.

What will you see anytime soon? More people turning to trucking as jobs in retail and food service are eliminated. Civil unrest as millions of jobs are eliminated. Government addressing the issue by giving people a guaranteed income since getting a job to support themselves won't be an option. That is far scarier (and closer) than robots replacing us.

I hope they don't replace us... I still got 7 years until I am legally allowed to drive... In state... At that point, I'm gonna be surrounded by robots going down the highway...

You'll see government workers go away before truck drivers go.

Boy........That can't happen soon enough!!