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He had been reporting that something was "off" about the guy, who was actually a full grown middle aged man, not some kid. He was going to drop the student off for some disciplinary reason and the student stabbed him in a rest area in front of all the other truckers.

The poor guy was on his last student before retiring from teaching, and was going to tour the country with his granddaughter, who just got her CDL before it happened.

There are a lot of arguments due to the stressful nature of trucking, and I always tried to give my students a lot of room and make sure they were well fed and hydrated. There is a reason trucking has a 100% annual turnover most years. Its difficult to adapt to such a changing environment and to deal with office personnel who are often unwilling to do their jobs correctly.

There is very little margin for error, and students are immediately held to these standards. So the first few weeks can be extremely stressful. Its not so bad once you become adapted. Its actually pretty enjoyable.

This happens once in a while, but we have to be careful about it. When I was a new driver, we were sitting next to a car with a kid asking us to honk. So we did.

And so the car in front of us freaked out and drove through the red light.

Im glad somebody asked this up front, and its a lot different than most people would expect.

Trucks are actually already partially automated. Many trucks have radar that applies the brakes to attempt to stop a collision, and will also automatically adapt to follow the vehicle in front of you. Not all trucks have this, but they are very common.

The main reason things cannot be automated completely is because customer service reps are often unwilling to communicate properly with the customers, which leads to an unreasonable level of confusion and mistakes, and so the driver serves as a way to overcome problems. The driver is there to adapt to situations, which severely hampers the ability to automate the industry.

Trucks actually cannot be completely automated, as its actually a lot like trying to automate UPS or the mail. There are a lot of tasks that require outside human intervention, such as doing paperwork, talking with customers, and most importantly... inspecting the truck for mechanical problems.

The most successful trucking companies are something called "LTL", which is basically the trucking equivalent to UPS. They pick up entire pallets instead of boxes, and take them directly from one place to another. These kinds of companies will continue to exist because their main advantage is their ability to adapt to small customers. An automated truck could not replace the human interaction required for small business transactions.

Truckers actually have a lot of training, and we are one of the only industries where people routinely deal with the authorities. We drive through inspection stations and have to interact with DOT or public safety officers. We have to verify the safety of the truck and loads, so very little of our jobs is actually driving.

One of the biggest reasons automation will have problems is because office workers routinely send us to the wrong addresses, and businesses often are not marked clearly. Trucks also have to enter businesses very cautiously because we can become stuck incredibly easily. My truck once sank into the ground with another truck stuck right next to me in the same place. Automated trucks would need to be able to overcome all the random problems and paperwork issues that plague the trucking industry in general.

TL;DR:

Drivers are mainly required for non-driving tasks involved with business and regulations. Driving is only a very small amount of the work.

I guess that depends on what you are into. There are an increasing number of women getting into trucking, and since all truckers require federal background checks and many have security clearances, its generally very safe.

There are actually a lot of couples getting into trucking, and the pay for teams is extremely high for similar levels of education. Couples usually make over $100,000 a year, before signing bonuses.

The couples are often some of the happiest couples Ive ever met, so Im pretty sure somebody is getting something.

The very most important thing for people to know about trucks is that the right front side is a blind spot. And that they cannot stop very quickly at all. The daughter of my family pastor was killed when she pulled out in front of a truck and was T-boned by it. So try and keep a safe distance, and avoid passing on the right.

The left side is the pass side. The right side is the "sui-side"