[interesting_att]

What's really interesting about this is that being a truck driver is one of the most common jobs in America. Most of these drivers have limited ability to do many other decently paying jobs. By getting self-driving countries, we would be dramatically changing the economic + social landscape of the country.

We have already gotten rid of the factory worker and that has led to withering away of Middle America. Removing the truck driver would be a huge nail in the coffin of Middle America. (If lab grown meat + vertical farming takes off, we can potentially drastically reduce the number of farmers in this country.)

I am all for these technical innovations, but we must be aware that this can dramatically change the economic/political/social landscape. Radical regressive ideologies spring out of such environments.

[sakri]

exactly, the governments responsibility also lies in supporting those who will lose their jobs, not just the drivers but the service station workers (clerks, cooks, cleaners etc. etc.), motels and so forth. Many point at Basic income as the answer, technology should release us from the shackles of work, not simply further enrich the 1%.

[jqm]

Maybe they can monitor the trucks with video feeds. Get a union together and demand only one monitor per worker and have laws passed that all trucks must be monitored with video feeds.

I think dock workers used to unload ships and my understanding is, that while not as extreme, they have done something similar. (Not that I see this as the best approach....).

[cududa]

Kind of like freight elevator operators. Utterly pointless trade I discovered while living in New York the last year. You can't bring boxes in through the lobby, only use the union operated freight elevator between designated hours.

[smileysteve]

> (If lab grown meat + vertical farming takes off, we can potentially drastically reduce the number of farmers in this country.)

A majority of farmland and ranches are already large corporations, so I doubt lab grown meat has that significant of an effect.