Experts are saying that trucks on autopilot are a huge opportunity. The biggest impact ATs (autonomous trucks) will have is cost savings and efficiency. The nice thing about ATs is that they’ll be able to operate 24 hours a day and drive a consistent mileage rate, making trucks safer and more fuel efficient. Freight will arrive at a destination faster. A human truck driver usually takes five days to go from New York to Los Angeles. It’ll take an AT 48 hours.

According to data from Acumen Research and Consulting, the semi and fully autonomous truck market is expected to reach approximately $88bn (£64bn; €74bn) by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 10.1% between 2020 and 2027.

However, the potential benefits of autonomous trucks have led to concerns about job displacement among millions of truck drivers. But in the US alone there is 60 000 gap between drivers needed and drivers available, so the technology many actually help to cover that gap. Therefore, it’s not clear at all now whether there will even be displacement.

For most trucking and logistics businesses, many of which have operated for decades, a more pressing concern may be rethinking their operations to meet the demands of an increasingly high-tech sector. So better to start thinking about the future now!