A convoy of self-driving trucks recently drove across Europe and arrived at the Port of Rotterdam.

That is a very big deal and points to the profound effect artificial intelligence will soon have for all of us.

Shipping a full truckload from L.A. to New York costs around $4,500 today, with labor representing 75 percent of that cost.

While human drivers are restricted by law from driving more than 11 hours per day without taking an 8-hour break, a driverless truck can drive nearly 24 hours per day.

That means the technology would effectively double the output of the U.S. transportation network at 25 percent of the cost.

Trucking represents a considerable portion of the cost of all the goods we buy, so consumers everywhere will experience this change as lower prices and higher standards of living.

In the US this year alone, more people will be killed in traffic accidents involving trucks than in all domestic airline crashes in the last 45 years combined.

But the loss of jobs representing 1 percent of the U.S. workforce will be a devastating blow to the economy.

The truth is no technology will automate away more jobs than the driverless truck.

But a 400 percent price-performance improvement in ground transportation networks will represent an incredible boost to human well-being.

 

 

Posted in: Infographic of the day