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.

Comments

[Super Scary]

I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but Fetterman is the spitting image of Rory McCann from Hot Fuzz.

[TJJ2000]

Nothing says progress like digging holes with your fingers like a dog. /s
Certainly can't allow humans to become more efficient than dogs. That'd be unfair! /s
Yell the ?progressives????

[Rick James]

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

Said Jack Nicastro in his high school graduation speech.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

.. should *always* be supervised by a qualified professional to keep our roads safe."

Or perhaps an untrained unqualified immigrant. As long as the union gets its dues.

[MWAocdoc]

I remember a demand by the IBEW at a facility where I worked once that supervisors require two Brothers on every light bulb change in the plant. I am not making this up! Yes, I realize that it sounds very much like the old joke about, "How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?" but they actually tried to make the case that it was a safety issue somehow, although it was never clear to me how two electricians changing a light bulb would result in fewer accidents and injuries. This was also about the same time as one of the electricians caused a major accident by cutting corners and failing to follow the documented procedure for a routine task.

[Longtobefree]

The second union member is there to call for help if the member doing the actual work falls off the ladder.

[Its_Not_Inevitable]

The joke I remember was that it took 3 {insert stereotype here} to screw in a light bulb. One to hold the bulb and 2 to turn the chair.

[Longtobefree]

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

And they do, in fact, perform that one function very well.

[psmoot]

Didn't the head of the longshoreman's cartel...er...union make a similar statement during the port shutdown? That he didn't care how much he inconvenienced the rest of the country so long as he got the contract he wanted?

I just don't get it. We object to monopoly sellers of all sorts of products (e.g. robot vacuum cleaners) but cheer for monopoly sellers of labor.

[See.More]

Autonomous passenger vehicles, such as Waymo's fully autonomous taxi cabs, are one such proven application.

What a disingenuous statement. Waymo's robo-taxis are only "proven" in cherry-picked environments and within a defined range of conditions (they shutdown when conditions are unfavorable).

[Incunabulum]

It's a 'net benefit' after all to have illiterates driving tricks like madmen.

Nicastro figures he won't ever be on the freeways so it.a small price to pay that others die to preserve his quality of life.

[Eeyore]

We should help the teamsters out and ban the use of forklifts and any other loader by union employees.

[Liberty_Belle]

What could possibly go wrong by un-employing thousands of truck drivers ? Not like they would immediately get on the federal dole or something.

[TJJ2000]

Sure, sure; because everyone who can't get the job of their choosing should be STEALING. /s

Maybe they can grow a garden and chop some wood and stop making endless BS excuses to STEAL? eh?

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Truck drivers as a group are mean sonsabitches. If you want to see mostly peaceful riots burning places like NYC to the ground, go ahead and piss them off.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

The Teamsters represent less than 20% of truck drivers and the vast majority are local or LTL drivers and may include warehouse workers. ABF may very go the way of Yellow but it really doesn't matter. Trucking has not been profitable for 3 years due to over capacity created by cheap foreign workers and declining demand. Rates are finally rising due to non English speaking drivers finally losing their CDLs as the law has required for decades. Whether you favor open borders or not that's just a fact. Much like rents mysteriously fall when illegals self deport. Driverless trucks will probably happen but only on a cost benefit basis. Human drivers are not the biggest cost for carriers, fuel is. But we're a long way from anything like a predominantly driverless truck world.

[Neutral not Neutered]

Without a human the trucks will not make their destination with cargo.

Get in front of automated truck, slam on the brakes with cars alongside doing the same. Stop the truck. Pop the doors and take the cargo...

If not full on theft then people simply messing with the automated vehicles on the highway will leave them ineffective, late for their deliveries and maybe even run out of fuel before they arrive at destination...

[Rossami]

Yeah, we should shut down autonomous trucks cause that scenario could never happen to human-driven trucks. Oh, wait - that happens ..., well, pretty rarely - and for the same reasons, will be equally rare with autonomous trucks. On the other hand, collusion/theft by the driver (also rare though less so) would be completely eliminated.

[Thoritsu]

Awesome! Now do Teachers Unions. Wait... any union.

[charliehall]

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

Duh.

There should not be long distance truckers at all. Railroads are much more efficient at hauling freight.

[Liberty_Belle]

I'm going to guess you don't live in a city complex where trains blocking day traffic would literally cause a Mad Max armed societal breakdown within hours.

[Rossami]

If railroads actually were more efficient at hauling freight, there wouldn't be a market for long-distance truckers. Railroads are more efficient for some cargos - and significantly less efficient for others.