Self-driving cars could be the way of the future, but labor unions seem intent on resisting the forces of the free market all the way there.

For example, major snack and soda company PepsiCo recently announced its plan to invest $600 million in autonomous trucking.

It will use self-driving trucks to deliver shipments of Frito-Lay, Pepsi and Gatorade products to Texas, Arizona and Arkansas.

While regulations vary by region, states including Texas are leading the way toward more efficient, cheaper transportation.

However, labor unions – specifically the Teamsters – are trying to stop that from happening.

One obvious benefit of self-driving trucks involves the freedom not to follow labor laws. Autonomous trucks don’t need to rest, aren’t limited to 8 to 10 hours of driving per day, and don’t need time off between long hauls.

And since they don’t get drowsy or distracted, self-driving trucks are significantly safer than human drivers.

A 2025 study followed driverless vehicles for 170 million miles and reported 82% fewer injury-causing crashes, 83% fewer airbag deployments, and 92% fewer serious injury or worse crashes.

“The future of American freight is already taking shape in the form of autonomous trucking,” observed Brian Norman, director of state affairs at the Goldwater Institute. “But it will arrive only if policymakers refuse to let special interests use regulation to freeze yesterday’s labor model into law.

“For decades, transportation unions have sought rules requiring more workers than the work itself demands,” Norman continued. “In the railroad industry, the practice was long known as ‘featherbedding’ – the use of labor rules to preserve jobs even when technology or changing operations made them unnecessary.”

Such unions often cite public safety concerns. But as self-driving technology surpasses human drivers, their only real complaint is the inevitable loss of jobs.

“Allowing the unfettered and unregulated operation of autonomous vehicles – ultimately seeking to replace human drivers with robots – is unequivocally a threat to safety on our roadways and the existence of good jobs in the trucking industry,” International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien told Congress in 2025.

In Colorado, Teamsters are pushing a statewide referendum on driverless trucks, arguing it would be “disastrous to public safety” and “threaten the livelihoods of thousands of drivers, their families, and communities.”

Instead, the union wants to require human operators in commercial vehicles, negating the efficiency and cost benefits of autonomous driving.

Similarly, the California DMV recently approved testing for self-driving trucks on public roads and received the predictable union ire.

“This is just the beginning of Teamsters California’s fight for good jobs and safety on our roads,” said the union. “The DMV’s decision to rush forward with driverless heavy-duty trucks is reckless, and we will use every tool necessary to stop it – including taking this fight to the courts.”

But owners of trucking companies paint a much different picture.

“You ask any trucking company what their biggest problem is, it’s usually the drivers,” said William Hall, a California business owner. “It’s finding drivers, it’s keeping drivers and it’s keeping them safe and keeping them out of accidents. Those things are all, with automated trucks and driverless trucks, are easier to deal with.”

And Aurora CEO Chris Urmson noted truck driving is a “very dangerous job” with “lots of health issues.”

He believes drivers could pivot to other jobs within the industry.

“It’s a job that I’m thankful people are willing to do but that we should be able to do better,” Urmson said. “We have the opportunity to elevate that job to roles of terminal operations or to dispatch, and we’ll ultimately grow the logistics industry by making it more efficient.”

Aurora is one of the leading companies in autonomous trucking and estimates as many as 170,000 self-driving trucks (about 15% of the trucking market) could be in use by 2035.

Norman argues lawmakers should resist pressure from unions to implement outdated, cumbersome policies.

“Autonomous vehicles should be judged by their safety and performance, not by whether they preserve the labor arrangements of the past,” he concludes. “The future of freight should be faster, safer, and less expensive. Policymakers should let it arrive.

“The result could be fewer accidents, faster deliveries, and lower costs on everything from groceries to construction materials.”