We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Forget the steam drill. It's John Henry versus the driverless car
outbound

Forget the steam drill. It's John Henry versus the driverless car

October 22, 2013
Mitch Mac Donald
No Comments

As any student of literature knows, the three basic types of conflicts in fiction are "man against man," "man against nature," and "man against himself." But in the business world, the conflict more often is about "man against machine."

Many a school kid gets his or her introduction to "man against machine" conflict in the classic American folk tale of John Henry versus the steam drill. The story centers on former slave John Henry, who after the Civil War went to work for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad as a steel-driver. Part of a team of men who cleared the path for the railroad, Henry spent his days driving steel wedges into rock, which were then filled with explosives to lay the path. In a version of the story by S.E. Schlosser, Henry is described as "a mighty man, the strongest and most powerful working the rails." Revered by his co-workers, Henry was said to be able to do the work of three, spending days driving "holes by hitting thick steel spikes into rocks" with his 14-pound sledge hammer.

One day, a salesman appeared at the work site promoting a new steam-powered driver he claimed could out-drill any man. There were, of course, disbelievers. His claim was tested by a contest between Henry and the newfangled steam-powered driver. The site foreman ran the steam driver. Henry pulled out two gigantic 20-pound sledges and went to work furiously pounding away alongside the contraption. When the dust settled, Henry had drilled two seven-foot holes to the machine's one nine-foot hole. Man beat machine, but tragically, Henry collapsed and died of exhaustion.

The next day, and every day of the project thereafter, the steam-powered drill went to work. As time passed, more machines came on line, and fewer workers were needed. The new technology had supplanted humans.

Since then, the story has been repeated time and again, with new and increasingly sophisticated technologies taking over jobs once performed by people. With the advent of the computer age in the 1950s, the trend jumped into high gear.

Even so, the claims made by two Oxford University researchers this fall were stunning. Most notable was their contention that in the relatively short term (say, 40 to 50 years), as many as 50 percent of all existing jobs in the U.S. could be vulnerable to replacement by computers. Their report, The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation? notes that, "while people have been concerned at technology's ability to supplant human workers for hundreds of years, modern advances in computing technology mean that whole occupations may soon be made obsolete."

The study, conducted by Carl Frey and Michael Osborne, looked at nearly 700 existing U.S. occupations and found that nearly one-half are at risk of obsolescence. The authors argue that the next generation of big data-driven computers will take the place of low-skilled workers across myriad industries.

This time around, even jobs traditionally considered to be at low risk of automation may be sucked into the vortex—including some related to the business of delivering goods. "Recent technological progress is likely to have significant consequences for logistics and transportation," Osborne says. Take long-haul trucking, for example. While a truck driver's job may seem safe in the short term, advanced sensing technologies and computing capabilities constitute a very real threat down the road. "The Google driverless car is now licensed to drive in the state of Nevada," says Osborne. "It won't be too long until such machines are able to substitute for human drivers in a range of occupations."

Perhaps this means the seemingly never-ending motor carrier driver shortage will finally be resolved. But this much at least is clear. As the technology hurtles forward, American workers who underestimate the power of the machine risk going the way of the mighty John Henry.

Transportation Technology Supply Chain Services Trucking Business Management & Finance
  • Related Articles

    Logistics Matters podcast: David Henry of GlobalTranz on the impact of USMCA; what it takes to be a Rainmaker; sustainability in packaging | Season 1 Episode 13

    don't forget the boots on the ground

    forget size, it's about clout

Mitchmacdonald
Mitch Mac Donald has more than 30 years of experience in both the newspaper and magazine businesses. He has covered the logistics and supply chain fields since 1988. Twice named one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the U.S., he has served in a multitude of editorial and publishing roles. The leading force behind the launch of Supply Chain Management Review, he was that brand's founding publisher and editorial director from 1997 to 2000. Additionally, he has served as news editor, chief editor, publisher and editorial director of Logistics Management, as well as publisher of Modern Materials Handling. Mitch is also the president and CEO of Agile Business Media, LLC, the parent company of DC VELOCITY and CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly.

Recent Articles by Mitch Mac Donald

20 years later, the question remains the same: Are you up to SPEED?

Hail and farewell: interview with Gail Rutkowski

Thought I’d something more to say …

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Private equity firm acquires packaging provider Coregistics in e-commerce bet

  • Trucking industry warns that AB 5 decision could push freight capacity out of California

  • Packaging industry reprioritizes amid inflation, supply chain disruption

  • Warehousing's perfect storm

  • Raymond Corp. marks 100th anniversary

Now Playing on DCV-TV

E3f9e6d5 8bd4 40ca 8c7f 43aa63ea3fc9

Lessons from CSCMP’s Annual Report Card for Shippers and Carriers

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
Recently, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) released their 33rd Annual State of Logistics Report which is created by AT Kearny. I've viewed this as basically a "Report Card" for shippers and carriers since it offers a comprehensive view of what they both have dealt with in the past year,...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Breaking Bad: Conducting Full Truckload RFPs in the Age of Digital Freight Procurement

  • Fueling Sustainability for Manufacturers: Strategies to Increase Fuel Efficiency and Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

  • Guide to Proven Warehouse Solutions

  • Five common misconceptions about running a private fleet

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2022. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing