Andrew Yang promises to save truck drivers from automation

Andrew Yang says his universal basic income platform will allow motorists to avoid automation. But not all truckers are on board.Phil Long / AP; Shayanne Gal / Business Insider

• The entrepreneur Andrew Yang is running for president. At the center of his platform is his support for Universal Basic Income (UBI).
• Yang told Business Insider that the 1.8 million US truck drivers would be one of the biggest beneficiaries of this UBI, with autonomous trucks becoming the norm in the coming decades.
• However, many truck drivers told Business Insider that they did not think their jobs could be automated.
• A smaller and growing group is beginning to think that truck drivers will be eliminated and their jobs threatened.
• "It's fascinating for me," said Daniel McCreary, a 47-year-old truck driver. "But maybe I should be scared."
• Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.

Andrew Yang wants to give US $ 1,000 a month to every American adult. And, he says, there is no group that would need this as much as the 1.8 million US truck drivers.

Complete truck automation is expected to save $ 125 billion in labor costs and fuel economy. But this manna will not go to truck drivers.

"This money will be routed in different ways, but one thing is clear: at the moment, the old truck drivers will see very little that, because it's not like there would be Meme it severance pay, "Yang told Business Insider. "87% of truckers are not unionized, most are small family businesses that own a few trucks for which they have taken out massive loans."

Even without the threat of automation, truckers are already struggling. An analysis of Business Insider showed that the median wages of truckers have decreased by 21% on average since 1980. In some areas they have decreased by up to 50%.

Read more: The wages of truck drivers have dropped by almost 50% since the 1970s – and experts say that a little-known law explains why

The trucking industry in the United States, worth $ 800 billion, was deregulated in 1980. Since then, the cost of transportation has dropped, but compensation, prestige and working conditions truckers fell.

Shayanne Gal / Business Insider, "Driverless ?: Autonomous Trucks and the Future of the American Trucker" by Steve Viscelli

Automated trucks should generate similar cost savings because hundreds of thousands of jobs are being cut. And even truckers who keep their jobs once the automation set up will see their working conditions and their salary fall.

Daniel McCreary, 47, based in Centerville, Maryland, said his job of transporting poultry food for nearly a dozen times will not be threatened during his lifetime. Yet he is watching recent developments with some fear.

"I think it's a bit like a snowball – as they detect the problem and solve it, they'll be able to do the next two jobs more easily," McCreary told Business Insider. "You have to be ready for change and just understand that there may be a day when all of a sudden it affects you unannounced."

But most truck drivers do not believe that robots will make them unemployed

Robots could replace up to 800 million workers by 2030; they have already replaced key blue-collar positions in the United States.

Yet the majority of truck drivers do not agree with Yang to say that they are next. Dozens of them told Business Insider in the past year that their work was too complicated to be automated.

"When a computer truck can haul 40 tonnes over the Rockies, with four inches of snow and a 60-mph crosswind in a blizzard, I'll be impressed," said Bill Gillen. Truck driver for 42 years at Business Insider. . "We may have autonomous trucks, but as with jet engines, a pilot must always be in charge."

Because of this, truckers like Michael Fisher are not worried.

"My feeling about autonomous trucks is that it will never really work – too dangerous and not enough responsibility," he told Business Insider. "I do not feel threatened by them at all."

Elsewhere in the world of logistics, executives do not make autonomous vehicle projects. According to the WERC 2019 DC Measures study, about 60% of principals, managers and senior warehouse managers do not intend to integrate driverless vehicles into their facilities. This percentage has not changed compared to the 2018 survey of warehousemen.

Read more: Silicon Valley thinks that trucks and driverless drones will quickly transform how we get things – but truckers and warehouse workers disagree

This repression does not throw Yang out of his way.

"I'm not really interested in trying to convince truckers that automation will be a problem," he said. "I really want to solve the problem – if a trucker does his job happily, thinking that everything is going to become dory, it's probably a good thing.

"This is not necessarily the case for which we must try to make every trucker become an automation expert," he added. "My job is to win the White House and then solve the truckers problem before it becomes a problem at the company or industry scale."

The entrepreneur Andrew Yang launched his presidential campaign in 2017. At that time, he went from the unknown to sixth in polls, winning honors on political figures and getting people endorsed like Elon Musk, largely thanks to his support of universal basic income. (UBI).Hollis Johnson / Business Insider

One facet of truckers and Yang pointed out that there are a variety of trucking jobs – and that some are far more vulnerable to automation than others.

Last-mile deliveries – where packages are delivered to home-based consumers – and complex moves involving hazardous or expensive materials are unlikely to be automated in the coming decades. This reassures the truckers.

"As a fireside driver, I know my job would not be replaced by a stand-alone truck – it will probably not be in my lifetime," Denise, a 30-year-old truck driver who wanted to keep her family name confidential, told Business Insider Denise. . "I can not imagine how plausibly a machine would be able to secure a cargo on the deck or the tarpaulin.

"I think it would be possible for an autonomous truck to take over the driving part of my job and drive me to the receiver, but I should be there to detach or detach the load," she added. .

Yet a growing group of truckers is starting to worry

A growing group of truckers, however, are starting to sound the alarm for autonomous truckers. They are still the minority of truck drivers, but their numbers are increasing. A group of them demonstrated in Jefferson City, Missouri, in August, and a large caravan will land on DC on October 4th.

"We are facing annihilation," trucker Bill Bogar, the organizer of the protest, told Transportation Nation. "Autonomous trucks are on top of us right now.

"This is going to be the destruction of millions of jobs in the country," he added. "It's very disturbing."

Brian Ward, a 40-year-old truck driver based in Arkansas, told Business Insider that he saw total automation operating within 10 to 15 years. "Some truck drivers are scared but not enough, "he said.

Andrew Yang took a ride with a truck driver in February 2019.Andrew Yang for President 2020 / YouTube

One of the reasons why truckers are not as scared as they might be is that the average driver is between 50 and 55 years old.

"Truckers worried about this will not live long enough for this to happen," Gillen said. "It's so far into the future."

But recent headlines have forced some drivers to realize that automation was essential. By denying the experts' predictions that the technologies and regulations were still half-cooked, the sector has made several major advances in recent months:

• In August, UPS announced its acquisition of a minority stake in TuSimple, a self-driven startup, and is moving regular loads to Arizona with a driver and a safety engineer. USPS also carries mail with TuSimple trucks.
• TuSimple has announced the release of its first fully autonomous truck on the market by 2023. TuSimple is currently moving driverless income generating charges to Arizona and Texas.
• Amazon uses driverless Embark trucks to transport goods.

• In June, Starsky began operating semi-truck drivers without a driver on the Florida Turnpike.

• Daimler Trucks and Torc Robotics announced in September that they would begin testing stand-alone trucks in southwestern Virginia.
• Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, said the company's large semi-autonomous platform would be in production by the end of 2020.

But they are not all aware of Yang – or agree with him

Truck drivers are a vital demographic group, although less well served. Near. Donald Trump is trapped in truck drivers, although the largely conservative group of workers now stands apart from the president as his trade war disrupts their ability to make a living.

Read more: Truckers voted for Trump en masse. Now, they say his trade war "kills" their ability to make a living.

This makes Yang more cautious and cautious in his travels. And, judging by the wave of trucking trucks that talked about Yang on their chains, it's paying off. There is even a driver who has collected nearly $ 10,000 to put a "Yang 2020" on his trailer.

Some truckers are beginning to worry about their future. Yang could it be the answer?Hollis Johnson / Business Insider

As for McCreary, the truck driver who says his feed work for chickens should be protected from automation, he is not a fan of Yang. The so-called Ronald Reagan fan said that Yang's UBI platform favored billionaires – not the working class.

"Wages do not take into account the increase in productivity or the increase in income of these companies," said McCreary. "If you hire fewer people but you pay them more money, it will cost you a bit more – you know, you may have to buy a 60-foot yacht instead of a yacht." 100 feet or something like that, but your guys are really going to be able to afford to live in. I think it's an easy solution, less a solution that it seems to be and more a way to transfer big pieces of the cake to businesses. "

However, while he's 47 years old and oversees the world of autonomous truck advances, he's getting more and more uncomfortable – and does not know what solution for his truckers. "It's fascinating for me," he said. "But maybe I should be scared."

Do you work in the trucking industry? Do you have an opinion on autonomous trucking or the 2020 election? Contact the reporter at [email protected]