CASE STUDY Exercise: trucking companies (B)

05) NOW IMAGINE THE REPERCUSSIONS OF THAT SOLUTION

How long would it take for a green self-driving trucking company, charging a fraction of the competition, to capture the U.S. market? Three years? And what percentage of current truck drivers would lose their jobs?

We should expect mounting public protests, with the self-driving truck company responding by offering a new job feature: a “Help unload my stuff” button in their app to book a certified gig worker for assistance upon arrival.

Millions of truck drivers would protest. Footage of self-driving trucks being vandalized would become rampant. Initial isolated violence would escalate into nationwide union strikes, with thousands of trucks parked bumper to bumper, blocking highways.

As the blockade disrupts supply chains, truckers would lose public sympathy. Police would arrest participants and dismantle the truck convoys.

Meanwhile, politicians would promise billions to retrain truckers for new jobs—likely to be displaced by the time they graduate.