The Teamsters Want To Keep Transportation Costs Higher

The union isn't pro-growth or pro-consumer. It's a lobby for workers.

"I want to protect the jobs of a narrow constituency so that I can win reelection" is not a winning campaign slogan, so politicians insist they're protecting you instead. That's the tactic Sen. John Fetterman (D–Pa.) employed on Tuesday in a bid to convince the public that autonomous trucks need human supervisors.

Aurora Innovation, a self-driving truck company, recently rejected the Teamsters' demand for human operators. This drew the attention of Fetterman, who took to X on Tuesday to argue that trucks and drivers are "a necessary partnership for America's highways and economy." Agreeing with the Teamsters Union, Feterman said "self-driving trucks should *always* be supervised by a qualified professional to keep our roads safe."

The data tell another story. Of the 20 automated driving system collisions Aurora reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since 2021, not a single one resulted in human injury. The worst crash reported was with a deer at 3:29 a.m. in October 2024. These results are not surprising considering the stellar safety record of automated passenger vehicles. For instance, Waymo's 127 million rider-only miles are associated with 81 percent fewer injury-causing crashes compared to human drivers.

But safety is not the Teamsters union's principal concern. As the self-proclaimed "champion of freight drivers"—3.6 million in the U.S. alone—the union is reasonably worried that automation will result in job and wage losses for its members.

The Teamsters have anticipated the creative destruction of truck drivers via automation for a while. The union's National Master Freight 2023-2028 Agreement, negotiated in the spring of 2023, prohibits ABF Freight, which employs 7,000 truck drivers, from using "robots, autonomous vehicles, or vehicles that transport freight without a bargaining unit driver." In the event parties agree to implement such technology, ABF agreed not to lay off drivers or reduce "the overall number of bargaining unit positions," thereby foregoing the 42 percent reduction in operating costs per mile estimated by McKinsey & Company.

Artificial intelligence promises to make life easier, less expensive, and more enjoyable. Autonomous passenger vehicles, such as Waymo's fully autonomous taxi cabs, are one such proven application. Autonomous trucks will be another, unless regulators and unionized truck drivers get in the way.