Travel by interstate sometime, and you'll note that "end mile" trucking is a tiny fraction of the total. Of course this is because of the vast subsidies that truck freight enjoys.
If we get the self-driving thing figured out, I expect that last-mile freight will use fewer actual trucks than are used today. Rather, the typical robofreighter will be quite small. Every time I receive a truck freight delivery, the trailer is basically empty. They use a big tractor-trailer rig because they have to hire a driver anyway, and sometimes they have enough freight to fill the trailer.
If we get the self-driving thing figured out, I expect that last-mile freight will use fewer actual trucks than are used today. Rather, the typical robofreighter will be quite small. Every time I receive a truck freight delivery, the trailer is basically empty. They use a big tractor-trailer rig because they have to hire a driver anyway, and sometimes they have enough freight to fill the trailer.