A single teleoperator can take care of several trucks at the same time.
(Photo: Fernride)
Entrepreneurs in Germany only have to put words like robots, digitization and automation into their mouths – fears about the jobs are already being voiced in public. Hardly any company leader can even think about technological progress without also considering the protests that threaten him.
The fear of job losses and downsizing runs deep, and it is also understandable from a historical point of view and given the impressions of the pandemic. But it is also becoming increasingly clear that this fear is itself a danger to society.
A good example is the business of freight forwarders and logisticians. It’s nonsense to fear for the jobs of truck drivers when thinking about autonomous vehicles. The truckers are already missing everywhere. The shortage of skilled workers is threatening the existence of entire companies. Automation can even save such jobs – and make stressful jobs better.
The Munich start-up Fernride shows how it’s done. It wants to drive trucks by remote control. A single teleoperator can take care of several trucks that are constantly waiting somewhere to be charged. Admittedly, one person might be doing the job that is currently being done by dozens of drivers. But that is also necessary in a profession that hardly any young person wants to practice anymore.
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Of course, that could also change: the professional driver in the office can earn much more with numerous loads delivered to their destination than with one. In future, he – and maybe she will more often in the future – no longer have to take his breaks at rest stops somewhere in the middle of nowhere, but can go to the coffee kitchen. And instead of in the driver’s cab, he will sleep at home.
Hopefully there will be many more such examples in the near future. And don’t worry: The pressure is greatest where people no longer want to work.
More: VW and Fernride are testing remote-controlled trucks in Wolfsburg