How much does a forklift driver earn? Walmart is spending $200 million for autonomous forklifts, to avoid the labor expense, whatever it is . . .

Photo above - Sigourney Weaver fights aliens wearing a forklift/exoskeleton suit. Automated forklifts are coming to Walmart warehouses, and we'll evidently never get this exoskeleton after all.

Geeze Louise . . . we don’t have to wait for AI. Robots are coming for everybody’s jobs. Case in point – Walmart has budgeted $200 million for self driving forklifts. Goodbye teamsters, strikes, and and giant contracts. See link below.

According to several links, the “average” forklift driver earns between $42,000 and $60,000 a year. Depending on location, unionization, and i suppose the number of accident-free days.

Driving a forklift is supposedly a job that “anyone” can do. Like flipping burgers and mopping floors. But those are being automated too. I’ve personally never piloted a forklift, but I saw a dozen zooming around a US Foods warehouse a few years ago when the food and beverage manager botched an order, and I volunteered to drive up and get 300 pounds of frozen scrambled egg slurry. The forklift's were all moving backwards, at high speed, and heir beepers were all jingling simultaneously. It’s deafening. Humans should stay the hell off the warehouse floor. Soon the forklifts will be able to dodge each other, backwards and forwards. They will work 24/7, and they will not need vacation time, health benefits, or a 401K match program.

Of course, Walmart's $200 million is just the start. The big enchilada will be Amazon. They’re already experimenting with robot “pickers” in the warehouses. Goodbye $23 an hour (plus benefits, including college tuition) warehouse employees.

The link doesn’t say where Walmart's forklifts are being made. The supplier is Fox Robotics, with headquarters in Austin Texas, so I’m hopeful these things won’t immediately arrive by the millions from China. But you can bet someone is building them over there, too.

This is a bit different than the future we were promised in films like “Aliens:. Where you could strap on a forklift exoskeleton, and either fetch pallets of Doritos, or shred aliens which look like giant insects, depending on your mood.

I'm just sayin' . . .

~Exclusive: Walmart looks to bet $200 million on autonomous forklifts | Reuters~

TexChik · F

Training, insurance, raises...It costs a lot more, especially in blue states with high minimum wages, to have employees.

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@TexChik semi-skilled and unskilled labor is probably incompatible with scenic ocean view living expenses

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

Its not just the costs of a Fork lift Driver. Its the "On costs" of every human employee. Payroll. Insurance. training, leave. We used to look at the costs of housing and feeding a horse as just par for the course. Until the automobile showed up and showed us a better. more reliable, cheaper way..😷