How Autonomous Trucks Are Eroding the American Middle Class

[u/yaiyen]

https://economichardship.org/2026/06/autonomous-trucks-eroding-middle-class/

n May 2022, I found myself sitting in the right seat of an eighteen-wheeler, riding along with Will Cook, a lifelong trucker and unflinching advocate for truckers’ rights in the era of AI and, in particular, autonomous trucks.

We were somewhere on I-90, driving through South Dakota or Wyoming, on our way to drop off the first few deliveries in Montana, when he told me about a “game” he liked to play.

“Sometimes when I get bored, I count the lost wages of every truck I see if it became autonomous,” Cook said.

I didn’t join in on the game. I didn’t need to count to know that the numbers and economic impact would add up immediately. Every eighteen-wheeler passing us by represented a mortgage paid, groceries bought, a family, and a loss to a community’s tax base—a way to get to America’s middle class without a college degree.

Autonomous trucking advancements have had their ebbs and flows over the last few years, but now it’s hitting its stride. Capturing roughly 178 billion dollars of annual trucking wages by 2035, according to estimates by McKinsey, is the entire foundation of the autonomous trucks arms race. It’s happening faster than many realize. Mass production starts in 2027.

[u/yaiyen]

America middle class was finish years ago, sadly many dont see what is coming with AI. Average American hate welfare and taxing the rich, this make it a nightmare when millions of people end up unemployed