(Bloomberg) -- “Trucks are going to be around for a very long time.”
That was Warren Buffett's rationale for investing in Pilot Flying J, the largest operator of truck stops in North America.
But what about truck drivers?
Companies from Ford Motor Co. to Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo are developing cars and trucks designed to operate without human oversight, potentially limiting demand for the pizza, coffee and restrooms at Pilot's and Flying J's 750 travel centers.
The trucking economy -- including drivers, manufacturers and truck-stop employees -- accounts for about 7.5 million U.S. jobs, according to American Trucking Associations.
Buffett, 87, isn't concerned. “It's not something I am going to lose sleep over,” the multibillionaire told Bloomberg's Ed Hammond in an interview.
“Who knows when driverless trucks are going to come along and what level of penetration they have,” Buffett said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Fournier in New York at efournier5@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Aaron Kirchfeld at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net, Devin Banerjee, Margaret Collins
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