7 Consequences of Autonomous Trucks in the Supply Chain

Self-driving cars always seem to be just out of reach. Technology improves and people make bold claims about when they will become the norm, only for new setbacks to further delay their inevitable rollout. Autonomous long-haul trucks, however, could arrive earlier.

Semis often have relatively straightforward routes. Driverless AI would have an easier time navigating more predictable highway traffic than pedestrian-heavy inner cities. Still, the future of autonomous big rigs in the supply chain is uncertain. Businesses and government bodies should consider the potential consequences — both positive and negative.

Positive Consequences of Autonomous Trucks

Supply chains would gain a lot from driverless trucking. When this technology becomes reliable enough for logistics professionals to use, it could transform the industry for the better.

1. Improved Safety

The most important advantage of autonomous trucks is that once they become accurate enough, they’re safer. As common as driving is, it’s a dangerous profession. That’s largely because humans make a lot of risky mistakes.

A whopping 60% of people admit to driving sleepy, slowing their reaction time and making them likely to miss incoming hazards. Drunk and distracted drivers pose even more risks. Robots can’t get tired or intoxicated and don’t text, so they’d eliminate these dangers from the supply chain.

Self-driving features can improve driver safety even before fully autonomous semis are a thing. Automated lane assist and braking can fill the gaps when truckers have momentary lapses in judgment.

2. Faster Shipping

Driverless vehicles would also make supply chains more efficient. While autonomous trucks won’t necessarily drive faster than humans, they can travel for longer.

Truckers can only drive for 11 hours and be on-duty — driving or not — for 14 hours before taking a 10-hour break. This law is an important part of road safety, but it significantly extends shipping times. However, it wouldn’t apply to an autonomous truck.

Self-driving vehicles could travel indefinitely, only stopping for fuel. As a result, shipments would reach their destinations in a fraction of the time. Such speed would mean lower operating costs and less disruption for companies, and greater convenience for consumers.

3. Overcoming Worker Shortages

Similarly, autonomous trucks would help logistics businesses become more productive. A driver shortage has emerged as e-commerce has boomed, with fewer people entering the trucking sector. Some industry insiders say the nation is short 64,000 truck drivers as of 2023, and almost one-third are 55 or older.

Before long, those aging employees will retire, worsening the labor gap. Self-driving vehicles are a convenient solution to this problem. A smaller workforce isn’t a big issue when businesses don’t need as many workers to reach the same level of productivity.

Overcoming the trucker shortage lets companies run shipments more frequently. Consequently, delivery timelines would fall even further, and supply chains could prevent disruptions.

4. More Sustainability

Driverless semis also bring environmental benefits. It’s no secret that transportation needs to improve its sustainability. The sector consumes 125 million gallons of diesel every day, leading to huge greenhouse gas emissions. While autonomous tech wouldn’t eliminate those numbers, it can reduce them.

Trucks waste a lot of fuel through poor driving practices like idling and harsh acceleration. Businesses can program a self-driving big rig to avoid these behaviors, minimizing the diesel they consume. Emissions will fall as supply chains use less fuel to do the same work.

Similar programming steps could also stretch electric vehicle ranges. That way, the industry could switch to carbon-free shipping methods without sacrificing productivity.

Negative Consequences of Autonomous Trucks

As impressive as those benefits are, autonomous trucks also have their fair share of negative implications. The downsides deserve just as much attention for self-driving technology to proceed safely.

1. Safety Concerns

Driverless semis will be safer than human truckers once they reach a certain reliability standard. The problem is that they could be more dangerous until they get to that point.

Self-driving AI has to anticipate billions of potential situations, and even then, it can only interpret things if its sensors work well. Right now, things like rain, snow, fog, and even reflections pose difficulties, leading to crashes. People can also misread signs and fail to see incoming obstacles, but they’re at least more familiar with common hazards than driverless cars.

Traffic involves a lot of unpredictable behavior and subtle nuances people take for granted. AI struggles to understand such complexities, which could lead to devastating consequences in the right situation.

2. Regulatory Complications

Autonomous trucks also raise legal questions when events like this happen. Currently, there are no specific laws for determining liability with self-driving cars. Who’s responsible for an accident involving one of these semis? The logistics company? The truck manufacturer? It’s harder to decide without another human party.

Insuring a driverless truck may be challenging without concrete regulations on the topic. Consequently, supply chain organizations will hesitate to embrace them before laws catch up with technology. Legislation will eventually adapt, but it will slow adoption before it does.

3. Job Loss

As with any type of automation, there are questions about fair employment practices. The transportation industry may face a labor shortage today, but it still employs 3.54 million drivers in the U.S. Self-driving vehicles may threaten these people’s jobs.

One would hope that companies would use autonomous semis to fill the gap instead of taking all open positions, but who’s to say they will? The temptation to cut labor costs may lead businesses to automate all shipments.

History proves technology creates more jobs than it destroys in the long run. However, these new roles require a different skill set. Consequently, while employment may even out over time, driverless technology could cause some initial job disruption.

Self-Driving Trucks Face an Uncertain Future

It’s still unclear when autonomous trucking will become a viable option. When it does, businesses have several complications to work through.

Driverless vehicles could be a massive help for companies and the customers they serve. At the same time, improper use or regulation of this technology could worsen things more than it improves. Organizations and government agencies should consider these questions today to ensure a clearer, safer future.