The autonomous trucking industry is ushering in a monumental change. At this time, there nearly a dozen companies around the world are working on developing autonomous trucking. It features many sensors that feed data to a computer that controls the vehicle.

There are many companies that have reported important progress. The California-based self-driving truck firm TuSimple, for example, is moreover, conducting tests in Arizona and New Mexico. This would include depot-to-depot delivery runs. They are completely automating yet supervised by a human.

Autonomous Trucking Market Reaches the Billions

The semi and fully autonomous truck market are expecting to reach approximately $88 billion by 2027. This is according to data from Acumen Research and Consulting. It will, therefore, grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.1% between 2020 and 2027.

New Business Opportunities and Money-Savings for Trucking Industry

This ground-breaking technology, experts say, has the potential to literally revolutionize the $700 billion a year in the truck industry that is expecting to touch every sector of the global economy. It will develop new business opportunities and save companies millions dollars.

Autonomous Truck Market will Have Major Opportunities

“There is a massive opportunity. Moreover, the largest impact ATs (autonomous trucks) is going to have a cost savings and efficiency,” said Patrick Penfield. He is a professional of supply chain practice at Syracuse University in the U.S.

AT’s Have Many Advantages

“The good thing about ATs is that they will be able to operate 24 hours a day. They will drive at a steady mileage rate, making trucks safer and more fuel-efficient. “The freight will, in fact, arrive at its destination quicker. Thus, a human truck driver usually takes five days to go from New York to Los Angeles. It’ll take an AT 48 hours.”

Autonomous Trucking: Displacement of Truck Drivers

However, the potential benefits of autonomous trucks have led to legitimate concerns about job displacement among the millions of truck drivers out there.

The American Trucking Association, in the U.S. alone, has estimated there are more than 3.5 million truck drivers on the roads. There are almost 8 million people employing across a broader industry. Trucking is the most common job in 29 U.S. states. This is ahead of farming, teaching, and secretarial positions.