Unmanned Kamaz trucks planned for use starting in 2028

Projects like that are actually developing. Kamaz is working on autonomous trucks.

They'll appear gradually, starting around the end of this decade, but that doesn't mean drivers will disappear from the road - at the initial stage, operators will still be needed, then there might be a decrease in demand for workers, but it's a long process.

Realistically, for now it's mostly in the sphere of specialized routes and testing, not mass use, so there's no point in rushing with predictions.

Don't put too much faith in specific dates like 2028 - those kinds of forecasts keep getting pushed back when they run into real problems with legislation and infrastructure.

The answers here pretty much nailed it about demand for drivers, but I'd add: the mass transition to autonomous vehicles could end up being even slower than everyone thinks, especially if you consider that roads and working conditions in Russia are so diverse that it'll be harder for a car to adapt compared to everywhere in the West. Drivers are going to be needed longer than it seems.

Driverless vehicles will definitely appear, but here's the thing - even when they start operating, demand for drivers won't drop immediately or everywhere.

At first, these will mainly be long-haul routes between logistics hubs, where everything is controlled and predictable. The catch is that the transition period could be long and painful - like five to ten years, when the technology already exists but drivers are still needed, except their wages are falling because of uncertainty in the industry. Complete replacement is a matter of not just one decade, but possibly more.

The main thing people often overlook is that even on closed routes, drones require constant maintenance, and that can't be automated 😊 There will definitely be fewer drivers, but we'll see specialists in diagnostics, repair of autonomous systems, and real-time monitoring pop up. The transition period will be long, and people who are willing to retrain will have pretty decent prospects.

I saw them testing some autonomous systems on the highway once - it was interesting to watch, though they're still very far from full autonomy. Realistically, 2028 is just a media target, not a promise; things move slower in real life, especially when you need to change laws and adapt infrastructure for something new.

What's more important for drivers themselves: if you're in the profession right now, it makes sense to think not about panicking, but about moving into related fields - logistics, dispatch management, maintenance of autonomous systems. Demand for experienced people who understand road and vehicle logic will only grow, but demand for pure driving might drop. The transition will be long, and professionals will have time to retrain if they don't just sit around waiting for things to happen on their own.