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Autonomous trucks are coming in the near future and truck drivers could be a thing of the past. However, even though you don’t technically need a driver for an autonomous vehicle, it will be required to have someone sitting in the truck while it drives autonomously from one city to the next. TuSimple, an autonomous technology developer, has recently partnered with a Tucson, Arizona Prima Community College to develop a college certification course for this future job.

From Black Friday to Cyber Monday and all throughout December, there will be more products sold and shipped in the U.S. than any other time of the year.  Staffing shortages and recent import tariffs have made retail executives stay on their toes and prepare for the season. 

Another concern that certainly weighs heavy on their minds are fuel and trucking costs, in particular the truck driver shortage that has plagued the trucking industry for years now.    

Long distance truck drivers may soon become a thing of the past. Autonomous prototype trucks are predicted to be operating on select highways by 2020. In an article in FleetOwner Magazine, Steve Viscelli, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, projects by 2040 that only a few outliers will not be using a predominantly automated fleet.