In the same note of tech in trucking, the large truck manufactures have started 'John Deere-ing' their equipment and making more electronically integrated, non user replicable, non-standard parts.
The newer parts typically are lighter, which means less fuel usage and room for actual cargo. At the same time, if the part breaks in 100,000 miles and costs an arm and a leg to replace the owner/operator doesn't gain anything but paying the manufacture more of an ownership tax.
The future of trucking probably involves neither truckers and nor any fuel. Battery electric trucks are already taking over. And autonomous driving trucks without a driver seems like it is a matter of time. That eliminates the two most expensive cost factors in trucking.
Of course this won't happen overnight. But it will probably be happening faster than some might expect. Cost saving potential is going to be the main reason. Trucks use a lot of fuel, and at the rate they are using it, it adds up to quite a lot of money. Tens of thousands of dollar per year. 50K$ is fairly average. The only thing more expensive is the driver. Getting rid of both, adds up to meaningful savings.
Uneasy is an understatement. The threat is looming and existential. Maybe some governments will draw lines in the sand, like how you still can't pump your own gas in New Jersey. But I'd bet 1000 to 1 that in 20 years truck driving will be a niche profession.
Recommend the book Data driven: truckers, technology, and the new workplace surveillance by Karen Levy:
> Long-haul truckers are the backbone of the American economy, transporting goods under grueling conditions and immense economic pressure. Truckers have long valued the day-to-day independence of their work, sharing a strong occupational identity rooted in a tradition of autonomy. Yet these workers increasingly find themselves under many watchful eyes. Data Driven examines how digital surveillance is upending life and work on the open road, and raises crucial questions about the role of data collection in broader systems of social control.
> Karen Levy takes readers inside a world few ever see, painting a bracing portrait of one of the last great American frontiers. Federal regulations now require truckers to buy and install digital monitors that capture data about their locations and behaviors. Intended to address the pervasive problem of trucker fatigue by regulating the number of hours driven each day, these devices support additional surveillance by trucking firms and other companies. Traveling from industry trade shows to law offices and truck-stop bars, Levy reveals how these invasive technologies are reconfiguring industry relationships and providing new tools for managerial and legal control—and how truckers are challenging and resisting them.
> Thanks to work from home, and other trends, workers are being electronically monitored by their bosses like never before. But some industries have had experience with this for awhile. Truck drivers, in particular, have been under legally-required electronic monitoring for several years now. Not only are their hours and miles electronically logged, increasingly they're subject to facial cameras and other types of body monitoring. On this episode, we speak with Karen Levy, a professor at Cornell and the author of "Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance" to discuss how surveillance works within the trucking industry, and what it means for everyone else.
Shameless Plug: I am building Proma.ai and one of the use cases we are pursuing is trucking freight operations management. I would love to chat with others in this space - both builders and buyers.
Trucking's uneasy relationship with new tech
(bbc.com)29 points by fidotron 21 July 2025 | 22 comments
Comments
The newer parts typically are lighter, which means less fuel usage and room for actual cargo. At the same time, if the part breaks in 100,000 miles and costs an arm and a leg to replace the owner/operator doesn't gain anything but paying the manufacture more of an ownership tax.
Of course this won't happen overnight. But it will probably be happening faster than some might expect. Cost saving potential is going to be the main reason. Trucks use a lot of fuel, and at the rate they are using it, it adds up to quite a lot of money. Tens of thousands of dollar per year. 50K$ is fairly average. The only thing more expensive is the driver. Getting rid of both, adds up to meaningful savings.
> Long-haul truckers are the backbone of the American economy, transporting goods under grueling conditions and immense economic pressure. Truckers have long valued the day-to-day independence of their work, sharing a strong occupational identity rooted in a tradition of autonomy. Yet these workers increasingly find themselves under many watchful eyes. Data Driven examines how digital surveillance is upending life and work on the open road, and raises crucial questions about the role of data collection in broader systems of social control.
> Karen Levy takes readers inside a world few ever see, painting a bracing portrait of one of the last great American frontiers. Federal regulations now require truckers to buy and install digital monitors that capture data about their locations and behaviors. Intended to address the pervasive problem of trucker fatigue by regulating the number of hours driven each day, these devices support additional surveillance by trucking firms and other companies. Traveling from industry trade shows to law offices and truck-stop bars, Levy reveals how these invasive technologies are reconfiguring industry relationships and providing new tools for managerial and legal control—and how truckers are challenging and resisting them.
* https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691175300/da...
Interview on Bloomberg's Odd Lots podcast:
> Thanks to work from home, and other trends, workers are being electronically monitored by their bosses like never before. But some industries have had experience with this for awhile. Truck drivers, in particular, have been under legally-required electronic monitoring for several years now. Not only are their hours and miles electronically logged, increasingly they're subject to facial cameras and other types of body monitoring. On this episode, we speak with Karen Levy, a professor at Cornell and the author of "Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance" to discuss how surveillance works within the trucking industry, and what it means for everyone else.
* https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-truckers-already-...
* Also: http://archive.is/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-o...