Imagine looking into the driver's seat of the diesel next to you on the highway and meeting eyes with this:

...or worse, meeting eyes with no one?

As self-driving technology is on the rise, things could be changing for these unsung heroes. But will this big change be a life-saver or a life-ruiner? Read on and decide for yourself.

Research has shown that every 16 minutes someone is killed or injured in an accident involving a truck.
Truck driving has consistently remained on the list of Top 10 most dangerous jobs in the U.S.
Truck drivers often opt to sleep in remote areas far away from any authority, resulting in them being victims of a large number of muggings.
The American Truck Driving Association estimates there are currently around 3.5 million individuals employed in the truck driving industry.

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Eliminating the human element of driving will knick the three most common causes for truck driving accidents: human error, speeding, and driver fatigue. While this may cut jobs for many employed by one of America’s most common industries, it will not completely eliminate the human element of truck driving. Some of the technology being presented places an experienced human truck driver behind a remote control to navigate tricky streets. This would mean working remotely for some current drivers, maybe even from the comfort of their own homes. Nevertheless, this up-and-coming technology is sure to at least put a dent in the industry as it currently stands.

While this might seem like a 3.5-million-person tragedy in the making, remember this is how capitalism works. It removes people from under-productive jobs and redistributes that labor to more productive/demanded tasks. This is how the technological advancements many enjoy have propagated into common culture. Imagine if we still had elevator operators, gas pumpers (sorry Oregon), bowling alley pinsetters, hand and animal-pulled plows, lamp lighters, and switchboard operators?