Pepsi Reveals Tesla Semi Operations Details With Real Mileage Numbers

You are talking about what happens to one driver or a group of drivers. Sure it won't be pretty, but the company benefits and the shareholders benefit. Welcome to capitalism. If you wanted the drivers to be the number one consideration, then you were thinking of socialism. Pick a lane.

Sure- we should go back to horse and buggies because innovation is bad. The Amish have it right. Dishwashers, washing machines, car washes, computers, cell phones (poor operators that used to manually connect calls --- all jobless now), automated farming, and you name it. Should we rip it all out so there are more things humans should do? Or, should we keep pushing technology so eventually we can do whatever we want? Sure, universal income might need to be a thing - but don't delay AI driven automated surgery because you want a human employed for me. I'll take the tech once it is proven. We need to rethink utility and what people will do and how we can leverage these things to solve poverty and inequality, not stick our heads in the sand.

Truck drivers out of work? There is a shortage.
First they are talking about alternative propulsion methods here, this is separate from what I believe your speaking to with autonomous driving.
I work for and have worked for the trucking industry for 2 decades. The quality of drivers have declined sharply due to the increase in demand for them and stricter government regulations. I see drivers DAILY, that I would not drive beside if they were in their personal vehicles much less in a semi truck. These would dramatically increase road safety, traffic, environmental impacts and the economy. Every new technology development brings with it new jobs and opportunities. Even if semi trucks were to go autonomous, the government would regulate that a human be involved somewhere in the process, as well as the jobs created in servicing, supporting and infrastructure for the new technology. This would offset the job loss of a truck driver "steering wheel holder" with higher paying jobs as well as entry level jobs that would support this tech. Sure the typical truck driver as we know them today would not exist but they could become dispatchers that would monitor and run the individual trucks to monitor them and even a group of them. So to say that this would make truck drivers lose their jobs is a bit premature and unfair, but IMHO, in my experience and even from the mouths of current truck drivers, the overwhelming majority would welcome this change as it would allow for less time on the road and a better quality of life for the "drivers" and their family. Drivers currently spend 10 hours on the road and up to 14 hours total between driving and working, and to think that companies still don't find "loopholes" to work drivers longer is naive. Also, truck drivers in most of the trucking industry are not paid overtime until on average past 50-55 hours a week. This in and of it self tells you the amount of "expected" hours companies put on them.

What are you talking about?

How does 100 electric trucks vs diesel trucks impact "those 100 driver's”?

Please make sure you read the article before responding.

www.trucking.mba

There are human drivers driving these Tesla semis.

Letter from stagecoach drivers and horse shoers to Ford circa 1910:

How dare you be so greedy as to put the stagecoach drivers, horse shoers, groomers, and stable hands out of work? All you lot think of is your own fortunes and those for your small group of friends. With this automobile crap, the only thing you will have will be the whole world depending on the government for living or living the world in misery.

You do get that Tesla is a publicly traded company that has made a lot of money for a lot of investors...right?

Angry much? You need to get your facts straight . Everything in your rant is inaccurate!

These trucks aren't autonomous.... So the economic benefit is in fuel savings and maintenance savings. If you're arguing we should stick with trucks that need repairs more often so that we can keep mechanics employed, then I guess you're right? Seems like having trucks out for repairs hurts the people who wanted the goods delivered and now can't sell their product though

But even when the trucks do finally become autonomous I think you're wrong. Autonomous vehicles will create way more economic benefits than the loss of the drivers will hurt. Drops in shipping costs will benefit everyone, shore up supply chain issues, and free up all of the space currently dedicated to parking lots/garages. Every house with a garage just got a brand new room to use too

Positive economic business comes from the cost savings of not having to use expensive diesel instead of electricity. This cost savings could and should impact prices directly to the consumer. Prices go down, more people can eat. Not sure how Pepsi saving money is going to make the world starve though. In reality, nobody can live off chips and soft drink anyway. Why would there be a decrease in truck drivers? These trucks are not completely autonomous. They still would require the same amount of drivers. The only difference is that a truck driver that supplies his own truck no longer has to do so. More money saved.

While I totally agree on not wanting to make Elon even richer, I don't get how going electric hurts thousands of drivers. These aren't fully automated trucks. They're just electric semi tractors with a human driver.

Not sure how the rest of your argument follows from there.

What an absolute plank! Has no clue what is happening in the world and more importantly why.

Self driving trucks will put drivers out of work, but I am not sure how electric semis would. At the end of the day it is still a driver in a truck driving the same routes.

I noticed that you did not mention the range on the trucks hauling Pepsi cans with a maximum weight. They have good range hauling half the weight. I really don't see this replacing long haul trucks that run at 80,000lbs. Drivers won't want to stop and charge after driving half a day or less. I would like to see range data on 80,000lb trucks crossing the high elevation passes in the rockies. How many decades will it take to replace the entire electric grid, install millions of charging stations , and increase electric power generation 300%to500% to handle all the electric demand. I heard congress say 50 trillion is only a start.i don't think this is worth doing because it will only lower the global temperature about 2deg. Global warming is a natural cycle of the earth. It will happen even if there where no people on the earth. This is just a huge money scam and nothing more.

100% agree with you (truck driver is a human being who needs to live and be able to pay the bills and food)

I too feel sympathy for the truck drivers. It will be difficult to find new job in the trucking industry as the old fleet phases out. Just as I’m sure the public felt sympathy for the carriage operators, and horseshoe fabricators when the first automobile was built. This like all new technology will create hardship for some but good for all. Autonomous vehicles will save many lives, reduce the cost of Transportation, improve the access to better Jobs, and ultimatley increase the wealth of the entire world- just as every major technological revolution has done before. All that matter is how we each choose to use it.