How Will The Transport Manager’s Role Change When Fleets Become Automated?

For transport managers, automated vehicles might appear to promise a fairly obvious change: take the driver out of the equation and a large part of the transport manager’s job disappears with them.

The reality is likely to be almost the opposite.

The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 creates the legal framework for self-driving vehicles in Great Britain. As automated vehicles move into commercial fleets, transport managers are unlikely to become less important. Their role will change.

Instead of managing only drivers, maintenance and conventional vehicle compliance, transport managers are likely to find themselves increasingly responsible for the systems around the technology: when a vehicle can be deployed, whether it is fit to operate, whether its software and sensors are working properly, how warnings are dealt with and what happens when something goes wrong.