> The same could be said about computer programmers. Not really. Programming has fundamentally changed since the 80-s: version control systems, connectivity, n

> The same could be said about computer programmers. Not really. Programming has fundamentally changed since the 80-s: version control systems, connectivity, new and more efficient languages, etc. Train yards have not changed a bit. Dispatchers might have computers now, and individual train cars can be tracked in a central DB, but the physical work of coupling/decoupling cars and shuffling them around has not changed AT ALL. > Trucks are good for "last-mile" local delivery or small loads/single containers going from one place to another. The US is special, it's geographically HUGE, so trucks end up playing an outsized role in long-distance transport. Trains are much cheaper and more efficient, so they can potentially help to reduce CO2 pollution _and_ the transportation cost. But train companies are just not interested in that. Having self-driving trucks transported on the interchangeable flatbeds can potentially change that. Trucks can just drive onto the waiting traincars, ride to the destination location, and then just drive off the flatbeds.