OPINION

Every time you push a cart through a grocery store or buy new clothes, you're paying for a poorly understood cost.

It is not on your receipt, but it's real: the cost of transporting goods across America is built into nearly everything you purchase, and it contributes to higher prices that is straining budgets for American families today.

Trucking transports more than 60 percent of all domestic goods in the United States.

And shipping costs are passed on to businesses, retailers, and ultimately consumers.

The reasons why trucking costs are too high are familiar: a chronic driver shortage, expensive fuel costs, and outdated regulations that were written for a different era.

It is predicted that the industry will need to hire 1.2 million new drivers over the next decade to keep pace with demand growth.

Fewer drivers mean slower deliveries, higher freight rates, and higher prices at the register.

That is why autonomous trucking matters for consumers.

A recent economic analysis found that self-driving freight could put $9 billion back into U.S. consumers' pockets each year by 2035 by making freight movement faster, safer, and less expensive.

Today, long-haul trucks are restricted by time.

Federal regulations limit driving hours, meaning a truck can only travel so far in a day.

Autonomous systems can operate for longer periods, increasing each truck's capacity.

Goods move faster, capacity expands, and costs decrease.

The savings add up quickly.

A new analysis projects $5.7 billion in annual fuel savings from more efficient driving, along with significant reductions in insurance costs as safety improves.

Taken together, these gains could cut operating costs up to 15 to 25 percent per mile.

When it costs less to move goods, everything else becomes cheaper.

Over time, those efficiencies show up where they matter most: lower prices for consumers.

That's how supply chain improvements turn into real relief.

Self-driving trucks are already transporting goods commercially in Texas, where lawmakers established a clear framework for autonomous vehicles.

This strategy has positioned the state as a leading testing ground for this technology.

The Trump administration recently took a step in the right direction at the national level, removing a regulatory double standard that fast-tracked exemptions for foreign-made autonomous vehicles while U.S.-built trucks faced unnecessary delays.

It was an overdue fix and a signal that Washington is starting to take this issue seriously.

The safety case is equally compelling. Each year, more than 5,000 people are killed in crashes involving large trucks, with human error as the leading cause.

The way our federal government values the loss of life in its cost-benefit analysis assessing regulations, that’s a loss of around $75 billion.

Autonomous technology could help prevent hundreds of fatalities and thousands of injuries each year, reducing both human and economic costs tied to crashes, delays, and lost productivity.

Autonomous trucking is not about replacing drivers; it's about strengthening the workforce. Human drivers will remain essential, especially for local deliveries, while the technology takes pressure off long-haul routes that are hardest to fill.

The sector already supports 17,000 jobs, and 82 percent of these workers earn above the national median wage, many without a college degree.

High prices are not just about monetary and fiscal policy.

They are more so about productivity, capacity, and efficiency.

Making it cheaper and easier to move goods nationally is one of the most practical steps we can take to lower consumer prices.

The unseen cost Americans pay each day is due to inefficiency.

Smarter freight methods are one of the simplest ways to bring them down.

Tomas J. Philipson is an economist at the University of Chicago and served as a member and acting chairman of President Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2017.