Mr. Rentacar3000's Blog

With my own instincts, while talking with my friends who work in the towing industry every day and also while talking to AI itself, I tried to figure out what drivers, operators, and company owners can expect, how the towing industry will change between now and the next decade.

You might think AI driving is a big factor that companies need to consider to keep up with the times but AI driving is just one small thing out of many large changes that I’ve noticed might take place soon.

Forget about AI driving for a bit. We shouldn’t even include that in this list because it’s obvious what’s coming with that. We might have built the Egyptian Pyramids with wooden logs, ropes, and elephants but you can’t deny that dispatching tow trucks is going to be handled by a bunch of futuristic computer chips ancient people could have never conceived.

But it’s not all weird and strange things that you have to look out for and adapt to. Some of it is awesome news that harbinger safety and efficiency so that tow truck companies that really pay attention can make the most of this.

That’s right. I’m managing the calls, never missed, and there’s going to be way less empty miles, less idling trucks because AI is going to be constantly monitoring the roads, monitoring the calls, monitoring past data, and doing everything to make sure they’re burning less fuel and helping more people.

It might sound scary to a lot of old-timer tow truck drivers who just want to focus on the cost of copper and scrap metal but that’s exactly what happens every century when new industries launch. Those who pay attention and adapt are going to benefit the most from this.

With AI in the towing industry, not only is job efficiency going to increase, meaning more profits for towing companies. The trucks themselves are going to be taken better care of as AI sensors are going to be incorporated into every major industry where machinery is used. Just like in cancer research, sensors are going to see things that are wrong and warn you of patterns way ahead of time so you can detect stupid little things like, “By the way this model needs oil changes this often,” and you wouldn’t even have known otherwise.

And then we get to the AI driving itself, which I admit is a little bit scary to me. I talked about AI in the transport world a few years ago but a lot has changed not only in the industry itself but in my own brain. Bear with me as I try to cover if this is positive or negative.

My original thoughts on AI driving had to do more with taxis than tow trucks but you can read my thoughts to see what was going on, not only in my mind but what was common in the public eye just a few years ago. Basically what I’m seeing now is unfortunate for a lot of drivers but if you look at stats, it’s creepy how few even teenagers are driving nowadays to begin with.

So you might be reading this as a tow truck driver in Canada or the USA or Brazil or wherever you are, or if you’re a recovery mechanic doing whatever winch outs in Europe. You need to accept that AI driving is coming and when it becomes safe enough and there are trucks, being the first one in to invest is risky but this is the way tech is going. You’re hearing it now so don’t pretend like you didn’t.

If you’ve read my older posts then you’ll already know what I think of electric cars. I’m an old school car lover and love my combustion engines, and there shouldn’t be anything wrong with that because working on them is my passion and hobby. With that noted, please don’t take my onion of Cybercab too literally. At the end of the day I’m glad the world is turning to work cleaner energy solutions to save the wildlife and all that, but that doesn’t mean I have to like AI-powered cars.

If you weren’t aware, Elon Musk’s newer invention, the Cybercab, is supposed to be rolled out in 2026. I won’t go into a ton of detail here about it because you can read about it on Wikipedia (but I suggest looking into it before you keep reading here if you didn’t already know what Cybercabs are). This is more of a ramble about how I think about them.

The first thought I want to share is what’s going to happen to all the Taxi driver jobs? These people are going to need to find work elsewhere depending on how successful Cybercab is. My second thought is whether it’s really too early to trust AI-powered cars to roam free on our roads. I know there hasn’t been many reported accidents of AI-powered cars yet if you suddenly triple the amount of them in one year, things could quickly change. My third thought is do we really need them? Like seriously, is it a product that we really need? Uber and local Taxi companies are already providing the service of getting carless people around, not to mention trains and public transit. The idea is a cool from a sci-fi fan perspective but as a practical mechanic I don’t see it being essential. Usually Elon Musk’s inventions are things people actually need, like affordable electric cars, space ships to go to Mars, and roof solar panels that look like real shingles (come to think of it that’s not all stuff we actually NEED either). Then again, none of us really NEED iPhones when there are cheaper alternatives, but people flock to them anyways. Maybe it’s something people WANT then? But who really wants a Taxi that drives itself? The only reasonable answer to that is people who want safer, and less congested roads.

Like I said in an older post, I’ll never drive an electric car because my passion is with older vehicles, HOWEVER if these Cybercabs actually succeed in making Monday morning traffic less hectic than I’m all for it. You just won’t find me riding in one; you’ll see me tailgating one to test just how safe they are!