Fully autonomous vehicles are coming, soon. In the US, there are over 4 million professional drivers (people who drive trucks, buses, taxis etc for a living). Most of them seem to be truck-drivers (figures vary but one commonly quoted statistic is 3.5 million). If I'm not mistaken, most have at best a highschool-level education. Many are getting on in years.

The nature of freight-trucking, esp. long haul, is such that many freight companies will find it economical to quickly phase out human drivers, whether they be employees or independent drivers. Average salary for a professional truck-driver in the us is > $60k (plus benefits?). The Tesla Semi, which will be ready for at least semi-autonomous driving from the start, is expected to cost $150-200k. A fully autonomous Tesla Semi isn't likely to cost much more when that capability finally arrives.

When do you think fully autonomous vehicles will begin to provide significant competition for professional drivers?

How quickly do you think professional drivers will be replaced?

What will be the social consequences of this revolution?