4 ms·
There are a few things I think you've overlooked: - For one, you're talking about human drivers covering first and last mile, which is a tiny, tiny fraction of
by FussyZeus 9y ago
There are a few things I think you've overlooked:
- For one, you're talking about human drivers covering first and last mile, which is a tiny, tiny fraction of the route that a truck covers which is why the Starsky model works well, in theory anyway. That means one given driver can do the work of probably a few hundred trucks in their last mile phase, even if they end up with some downtime in the middle, it's not even close to balancing. You're still talking about a possibly slightly larger market being overseen by a much smaller workforce.
- Secondly, this completely ignores what could be the silver medal effect of truck driving becoming automated; the death of millions of small and large businesses that operate basing heavily on the incomes of truckers, everything from truck stops and diners, all the way to motels, specialty truck accessory companies, on and on and on. These are the ripple effects that many people aren't looking at when they're thinking about this, it isn't just trucking, it's one of the last jobs available to you with naught but high school under your belt that earns around $40k. And that's not even going into how many businesses do a ton of business with truckers that earn that wage, which is usually much higher than their neighbors are earning.
- Thirdly, if all trucking is done from various Starsky-like operations, then truckers in general will be moving into more consolidated living conditions. Again trucking is one of the VERY rare jobs that requires minimal training, pays a comfortable wage, and is available pretty much anywhere in the States where there are roads and people who buy products. If you want to work as a software developer, chances are you'll have to move to Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Austin, etc. but if you're looking to be a trucker, you can go pretty much anywhere and have fairly solid employment opportunities. For now.
- sigstoat 9y ago> Thirdly, if all trucking is done from various Starsky-like operations, then truckers in general will be moving into more consolidated living conditions. why? if the controls are network traffic, and one driver being right next to another driver doesn't add value, why not spread them across the country? it'll reduce control latency, increase reliability (can't have all deliveries stopping if the fiber to one building is cut), and make it easier to have drivers awake when the deliveries are tending to take place (certainly some locations might take deliveries in the middle of the night, but mostly they're going to happen when businesses and such have employees available to receive the materials.)
- Johnny555 9y agoIf you want to work as a software developer, chances are you'll have to move to Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Austin, etc If you're willing to work for truck driver wages ($40K - $70K), you can be a developer in any sizable town in the USA.
- mindcrime 9y agoIf you want to work as a software developer, chances are you'll have to move to Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Austin, etc. Not that I disagree with your basic point, but that's a pretty narrow view of the software world. There are jobs for developers all over the place, even in podunk towns with a few thousand residents. Granted, that town might have like 3 total jobs for programmers, but a. that's an extreme example and b. "long tail". Consider all the mid-sized cities out there, as well as "non tech hub" big cities and there's plenty of places for programmers to live and work. Just to illustrate: https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=Buffalo%2C+NY https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=Buffalo%2C+NY https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=cleveland%2C+oh https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=cleveland%2C+oh https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=fargo%2C+nd https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=fargo%2C+nd https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=%22visual+basic%22&l=Oklahoma+City%2C+OK https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=%22visual+basic%22&l=Oklahoma+... https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=c%23+&l=Boise%2C+ID https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=c%23+&l=Boise%2C+ID https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=chicago%2C+il https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=chicago%2C+il https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=Cincinnati%2C+OH https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=Cincinnati%2C+OH https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=Phoenix%2C+AZ https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=Phoenix%2C+AZ https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=Tampa%2C+FL https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=java&l=Tampa%2C+FL etc., etc. etc.