{"id":2717,"date":"2021-04-21T08:15:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T08:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loginextsolutions.com\/blog\/?p=2717"},"modified":"2025-10-15T12:47:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T12:47:56","slug":"driver-shortages-usa-autonomous-trucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.loginextsolutions.com\/blog\/driver-shortages-usa-autonomous-trucks\/","title":{"rendered":"Are autonomous trucks the answer to frequent driver shortages?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are autonomous trucks the answer to frequent driver shortages in the USA?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

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Quick answer: Not yet. There are enormous strides being taken in the autonomous trucks space and driver shortage is a real problem but we\u2019re at least a decade away from autonomous trucks becoming mainstream. In the meanwhile, hybrid is the way and optimization holds huge potential! <\/span><\/p>\n

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Now that we\u2019ve answered the question, let\u2019s go into the depths of the situation and present a solid proposition. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Driver Shortage- How big is this problem?<\/b><\/p>\n

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According to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS), there are 1.75 million heavy truck driver employees, 0sbi.9 million light truck\/delivery driver employees and 0.4 million drivers\/sales workers. This is roughly 3 million truck drivers in 2017 according to the <\/span>report here<\/span><\/a><\/span> and the projection was for this number to grow to 4.5 million in 2026. <\/span><\/p>\n

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The pandemic of course came in as a major disrupter and in the current times, reports of driver shortage have further intensified. A <\/span>JOC story<\/span><\/a><\/span> reports that <\/span>2020 was the first year since the 2008\u201309 recession when the number of truck drivers dropped year over year. So yes, driver shortage is a problem and a big one at that. <\/span><\/p>\n

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There are several stakeholders trying to address the issue and some of the quick answers come in the form of- increasing wages, giving more time off to drivers to incentivise truck driving as a career or pin hopes on autonomous trucks! But the essence lies in taking the onus of proper planning. MIT FreightLab research shows that drivers spend about only 6.5 hours driving out of an available 11. And this is mainly due to the inefficiency in the systems resulting from wait times during pick up or drop, inability to batch orders, reliance on manual processes and such.<\/span><\/p>\n

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