The Future Of Work Looks Like A UPS Truck

The Future Of Work Looks Like A UPS Truck

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.
In a lot of ways, the job looks the same as ever — the brown truck, the dogs, the lady coming out to apologize about the dogs. Underneath the surface, though, Bill Earle’s job as a driver for UPS, has changed a lot. When Bill started back in the ’90s, he was a guy out there by himself, alone in a truck on an empty road. UPS was a trucking company. Today, it’s a technology company. Every step Bill takes, every mile he drives, is tracked. His truck is a rolling computer. From the time he punches in in the morning until he gets back to base at night, the company is trying to figure out how Bill can do his job quicker, more efficiently. Technology means that no matter what kind of job you have — whether you’re alone in a truck on an empty road or sitting in a cubicle in front of a computer — your company can now track everything you do.