01658124

Component

Mobile workers are engaged in the movement of people and goods. This paper considers four categories of mobile work: Truck & Delivery Driving, Taxi & Chauffeur Driving, Bus & Rail Operation, and Mail Delivery & Couriering. It describes trends from 1968 to 2016 and answers three research questions: Who works in mobile jobs in the United States? To what extent does mobile work provide quality jobs? What are the job quality prospects for workers with characteristics associated with mobile jobs if driving jobs become less available due to automation? It finds that mobile occupations provide relatively good quality jobs to men with an educational attainment of high school degree or less, and to military veterans. However Taxi and Chauffeur Driving—the only form of mobile work that is growing—is the lowest quality. Additionally the prospects for workers with these characteristics in a future where less driving jobs exist due to automation are poor. Most alternative occupations for males with educational attainment of high school degree or less, such as construction and janitorial work, are lower quality than mobile jobs. In light of these finding, policies that promote post-secondary education, retraining, and a minimum quality level for jobs are encouraged.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABG20 Standing Committee on Transportation Education and Training.

18-00922

English

16p

2018

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

Automation; Bus driving; Chauffeurs; Delivery service; Freight and passenger traffic; Intelligent vehicles; Jobs; Postal service; Railroad vehicle operations; Taxicab drivers; Truck driving

Highways; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; Vehicles and Equipment

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-00922

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 8 2018 10:14AM