The Gig Economy & Truck Drivers

I've been thinking a lot about truck drivers lately. Not because they're the primary example given for jobs at risk of total elimination due to automation; but more so owing to the nomadic and isolated nature of the work they do.

I'm not sure if there is another job today that could be more instructive or worth studying for potential parallels to the future of gig economy work than the trucking industry generally, and truck drivers specifically.

What I've really been thinking about are the infrastructure and businesses that play a large role in any trucker's life. I can think of three main ones: trucking companies, weigh stations and truck stops.

The company secures, co-ordinates and distributes work assignments to every trucker in that company. An important distinction that I am not clear on is if truckers are generally employed with one company, or if they have contracts in place with multiple companies. My guess is the former.

The weigh station operates ostensibly as an evaluation center - checking to make sure they are following basic rules and are functioning properly.

Truck stops, on the other hand, serve multiple purposes for the truck driver outside of acting as a re-fueling point. Broadly speaking, they also supply truckers with leisure, sustenance, very basic entertainment, opportunities to socially engage with other truckers, as well as vice. Truck stops are basically non-alcoholic bars for truckers.

I'm not a trucker, so I can't say for sure, but I imagine truck stops are very, very important to truckers. If they disappeared, I'm not sure how trucking could remain a form of work someone could repeatedly engage in and sustain over long periods of time.

If you think about the infrastructure (both digital as well as physical) being set up for the workers of the gig economy, there are barely any "companies" established let alone weigh stations or the equivalent of truck stops. When it comes to the gig economy, it makes sense to focus on those infrastructural aspects first, or at the very least in tandem with whatever design or plans one has around work and workers in the gig economy.