What happened to the driver?

This study analyzes how taxi and truck drivers in Sweden perceive the impact of electrification, digitalization, and automation on their quality of working life. While drivers see potential for improved safety and performance, they also identify challenges regarding identity and skill requirements. The authors argue that potential injustices regarding reskilling costs and autonomy are driven by institutional and societal arrangements rather than the technology itself, and they advocate for incorporating driver perspectives into policy to ensure a just transition.

• Drivers perceive both challenges and benefits regarding the low-carbon transition of the transport sector. While there are perceived challenges concerning identity and skill requirements, drivers also recognize the potential for electrification, digitalization, and automation to enhance performance, safety, and the work environment.
• The transition may lead to injustices in terms of recognition, procedure, and distribution, specifically concerning the recognition of drivers' knowledge, their autonomy, and the costs associated with reskilling.
• The authors conclude that the positive or negative implications of these technologies are driven by social processes, institutional arrangements, and broader industrial and societal shifts, rather than the technologies themselves. They argue that including drivers' insights in decision-making is necessary to preserve dignity and improve wellbeing and quality of working life.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2025). What happened to the driver? https://www.sei.org/publications/what-happened-to-the-driver/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. What happened to the driver? 2025. https://www.sei.org/publications/what-happened-to-the-driver/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=What happened to the driver? |date=7 February 2025 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/what-happened-to-the-driver/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2025what, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{What happened to the driver?}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2025}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/what-happened-to-the-driver/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }