Last year TruckersReport covered a New York Times article called “Daddy, What Was A Truck Driver?” in which multiple individuals, including leadership at the ATA, predicted that autonomous self-driving commercial trucks were “close to inevitable.” Whether or not flesh and blood truck drivers will go the way of the dodo remains to be seen, but a recent announcement from Google puts non-commercial drivers on notice. According to Google, they hope to be putting 100 self-driving cars on the road by this time next year.
Proponents of self-driving cars claim that handing control of non-commercial vehicles over to computers will improve safety. Google claims that, according to government research, 90% of all accidents are caused by human error. According to Google, people should not be worried that computers will be unpredictable or act in ways contrary to accepted driving patterns. They claim that their autonomous cars are “more courteous and more defensive drivers than normal drivers.”
Up until now, Google’s self-driving cars have logged hundreds of thousands of miles, but always in a modified consumer car such as a Toyota Prius with an employee in the front seat ready to jump in if something went wrong. The new autonomous cars wouldn’t require an expert at the wheel – in fact the new cars don’t even have steering wheels. Or brake pedals. They’re built to be autonomous from the ground up and are driven entirely by a computer. A scary or reassuring concept depending on how you feel about computers – and people.
So what does this mean for truckers? Well, according to a study conducted last year by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, in accidents between commercial trucks and cars, the driver of the car was found at fault 81% of the time. If self-driving cars can truly reduce car accidents by 90%, there might be 73% fewer truck accidents. And according to a video on their Google+ page, Google’s cars differentiate between different kinds of vehicles and give trucks a wider berth than other vehicles. So this could mean fewer erratic 4-wheelers dodging in and out of traffic right in front of your rig. In fact, in the comments section of our previous article, some truckers were actually hoping for a time with driverless cars to help keep unsafe and impaired drivers off the road.
Of course, progress with any sort of autonomous vehicle brings us closer to the “inevitable” future of trucker-less trucks that the ATA seems so giddy for. If it is inevitable, it is at least very far off. Automating driving is one thing, but there’s much more to trucking than just holding a steering wheel… a fact perhaps that a few people could stand to be reminded of.
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Source: thetrucker, wsj, googleblog, googleplus
Phillip Uzzo says
No way that this could possibly be a disaster in the making. Of course, it may wind up being an improvement over some of the so called men that call themselves truck drivers these days.
charlie says
Whatever! This doesn’t justify a comment, but seeing how well all the newer computer controlled truck engines work…. could be a great way to reduce the population.
Rohinton Irani says
Wow ! Are people really this stupid ! ?
Here,let me CALM DOWN The Hysteria of there being No More Truck Drivers ?
The Mai reason why Truck drivers will NEVER go away,is summed in One Word : WINTER !
O.K.,let’s say the make a Truck that drives itself ?…..Who in the Hell is going to Put CHAINS on during The Winter !
I mean unless 2/3 of the Country is going to Re-locate below I-40 ! Coast to Coast !
You will need Truckers !……Also,speaking of Winter ?
If they are going to use Technology,that’s going to use the LINES on te Road,to drive the Truck ? ( I’m assuming ).
Well then what happens when there is a WHITE OUT !…..What the hell is the computer going to do then !
Not to mention all the Intangables, that Truckers do,by being : the EYES & EARS of Our Country’s Roads !
I mean I’m all for Technology,making our Lives easier,but Technology CANNT solve al of our problems.
And at times Technology,CAUSES Problems !
Keep on Truckin ‘ !
Earnest D Marcum says
Well, the issue of throwing on chains in the winter has been addressed YEARS ago. Go to any fire department, ambulance in an area that is plagued with snow in the winter and you will see they are equipped with chains that “automatically” go under the tires when traction is broken.
The issue of being the eyes and ears on the road would be addressed with on board camera’s that could and would scan license plates and within miliseconds detect a stolen license plate, stolen car, APB’s (all points bulletins) issued on a license plate for whatever reason. For sake of wisdom, Los Angeles, CA has had this type of technology actively running now for awhile on the streets doing exactly what I mentioned above. Just last week, on nationally syndicated news, they reported that an automobile license plate that had been stolen in AR, had been located in Los Angeles, CA on a car on the streets, thanks to the technology used there. Technology far surpasses the knowledge of a given individual.
Chris says
You have a lot to learn about technology.
Brian says
A trucker will at least be able to dodge that “gator” in the road.
Tim says
Road debris is hardly the example you were looking for. Physical objects are a piece of cake — in fact even a piece of cake would be easy to spot and avoid.
wing says
never heard of auto chains, two companies out there making them. Never heard of gps control?
Drive cams? These rigs run in Mongolia at mines with trailer trains, no driver, just a technician to oversee the computer….sitting there doing not too much. Convoy truck systems are available in the U.S., whereby cars are WI-fi linked to the truck which is in the lead, you just set there in your auto and it follows the truck..10 to 20 cars or more at a time…. called traffic control and you get off at your exit….now the car will get you where you need to go….all the while you have been lulled into a stupor of electronic overload. Just have to sell it to the public, which is the major hurdle, as once they are believers, the powers that be have control of their minds and pocket books.
The Nazis will look like amateurs when the one per centers reach these goals… and these
goals are happening now….
you just can’t spill all the already realized technology onto the public highways, although it is much easier these days with the public/lemmings so gullible……
RACER says
So what is new about this, where I am now having to reside (n.j.) there are driverless cars everywhere that have steering wheels.Most of them including law reinforcement types are either holding a box to their ear or staring at one.
Smitty says
I guess they can secure the loads, check the loads and even repair themselves when they breakdown too… I have a feeling it will only be a matter of time that they start having issues that the so-called experts didn’t predict… This is kinda like back in the 80’s when the wave of the future was going to be robot maids and servants, now 20-30yrs later I still don’t have a robot serving me my morning coffee and making my bed…. We shall see!!!
Earnest D Marcum says
Finally, the shipper will be responsible for loading 100% of the loads, securing it for transport and if they fail to properly secure the load, they will be held liable for damages caused. That in itself would be a hoot, to see that being a reality so that CDL don’t mean “Combined Lumper Driver)..
Similar to back in the mid 1980’s when the old truckers were in a tiz over the FMCSA putting scales in the roadway that would weigh trucks before they got to the weigh station. Many OO’s were fit to be tied because they would be over on an axle but when they went across the scale at the weigh station, they would dump the air bags on the drive’s or trailer or alternate between them so the weight would shift one direction or the other or both so they did not get an over axle weight ticket. Many were going to get out of trucking because they felt Big Brother was sticking their nose’s where it did not belong. Today we don’t give it any thought and call that scale built into the highway, as being part of “Pre-Pass”. A lot of trucker’s on the road today don’t have any idea that Pre-Pass is relatively new. Technology is coming to the trucking industry like a runaway locomotive.
Mark says
The Hell with self driving cars. I’m STILL waiting for my flying car they promised me in the 60’s!
Earnest D Marcum says
LOL….Me too, Me tooo!!!
jeff beyer says
Where the heck is my flying car? Popular Science has been promising that on their cover since the 1950’s
Roadghost says
They already have driverless truck. They’re called trains. Just ask the people in Lake Megantic how that works.
Salty Lad says
Driverless trucks will not and cannot happen. Who’s going to pretrip it? Fuel it? Bring the bills in to the desk jockey that’s too lazy to get their ass out of their chair, much less the air conditioned office? If they really wanted to get rid of OTR truckers, then the rail industry would be a hell of a lot busier than it is.
wing says
the computerized robot will do it all…..rail is at capacity…just see ninety’s and 2000 + when all the railcars were stuck in southeast.
Sorry Salty, the tech is already available…The pre-trip is electronic, the DOT will not need the scales, as wi-fi transmitters can send all the data related telematics to the scale, already, so no driver and no log book. Fueling will be automatic also. Won’t need the brokers, shippers or receivers except as ancillary operations.
You know that there are already many operations that are robotic….such as Colorado’s Aurora Dairies operation at Platteville,Colorado, whereby the system is robotic and pick and pulls the load from a 20 story building. Load is controlled all the way to the dock, where the fork lift operator takes it to the trailer….but that can be automated too. Less overhead and more for the 1 per centers profit margin.
No overhead and headaches for them from drivers, lumpers and warehousmen, who are just as important in the system as drivers, but no more..
Time to retire from the game…
unless you can learn how to play the new one.
The trick is to sell it to the public, get control of their minds, time and money…
build it and they will come…..what a field of dreams come true!
Earnest D Marcum says
As far as, who is going to repair a truck when it breaks down? Just have to look under the dash of your newer car/pickup truck and see that computer link under the dash and that includes your big rig too. It tells the mechanic what issues the vehicle has BEFORE the fist screwdriver is used. In an automated vehicle, issues that occur enroute would trigger a sensor that would send a signal to the trucking company and the truck (in this case) would be re-routed to the nearest repair facility and if it flat out dies on the road the same signal would be sent to the trucking company and a repair truck would be dispatched with the correct part on hand (if minor) or a wrecker, if a catastrophic breakdown, that require’s day’s of repair.
Eventually dispatcher’s will become relics of the past too because automation will easily replace them. Shipper’s will enter the required information into the trucking companies load/s available data base, make correction’s to that shipping order as required for all loads and a computer will dispatch the first available truck to the shipper’s location. Actual physical truck driver’s, like actual physical fork lift operator’s at some breweries will be a thing of the past, like an Edsel automobile or an Oldsmobile/Pontiac/Saturn.
Welcome to the future!
Locrius says
Airplanes have had automatic pilots for years yet every one has at least one pilot onboard. I wouldn’t worry about losing trucking jobs just yet.
Tim says
I hope they don’t use a Garmin Dezl, in those trucks.
Brian says
Hahaha… I can laugh at that. I have a Garmin Dezl. Its worthless.
Will says
Show me a computer that will be able to perform the required pre and post trip inspections and then maybe I will worry about my job as a truck driver
wing says
sensors and cameras can do the job now.telematics and wi-fi will send the data and unless broken or uncalibrated, can’t lie. So no need of DOT henchmen either.
Skynet…here we come.
See, drivers don’t have the balls to park the truck for even just one day, and say, NO, you will not take my job and my livelihood from me… you will not tell me when I’m tired, you will not pay me only for miles driven and not pay me for 168 hours a week on the road.
Which of us single-Ly or collectively has more balls than Anne Ferro….
The silence is deafening!…………
Tim says
The ATA has reason to be giddy. To quote Carl Sagan, it indeed has “billions and billions” of them.
Kevin says
So what happens when the grid goes down and there are no computers to control the cars or electricity to run them. Gonna be a lot of people walking when the zombie apocalypse hits.
Will says
This is just the latest chest thumping round of stories by the latest wizards on the block. We are decades away from this reality. The first person who is killed by one of these things will be the case for Google to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. There’s way to many scenarios to list here. Using the car to kill someone being just one of the illegal misuses of this technology. I’m both excited to see the progress and still not remotely worried that it will be my replacement in this lifetime.
wing says
you must have a lot of stock in this technology….don’t be fooled…Google is part of the 1 per-centers…they monitor your email and banking ,etc.
It is not decades away. There is by default a lag in technology roll out….but the lag is getting smaller….see smart phones.
Don’t you think the new- agers want this? Entitlement drives the economy.
Google and it’s government cronies, will simply by law, delineate the outcome of lawsuits.
Have you ever seen a poor Congressman?
The is much money and power to be gleaned…it’s only takes a super computer to set the parameters…many around.Just need to sell it to an already brainwashed public.
Why not start it by showing an already biased motoring public how bad we truckers are?
See I-Robot movie for reference.
drifter says
Some of y’all think this could be a good thing but don’t forget how many truckers will be jobless and how much unemployment this will cause just another way for the government to take over
wyldhorses says
Amazon just announced this week it was hiring 10,000 workers, but no humans need apply. It is adding 10,000 robots to it’s warehouses. It won’t happen in the lifetime of anybody reading this, but one day there will be driverless trucks, robot nurses, and it’s gonna be a crap storm when it happens. The govt’s of the world are going to have to send everybody a check every month, or their will be constant open warfare and fighting in the streets. Humans may go back to a primitive hunter gather culture when the robots have all the jobs, they won’t have any choice but to do so.
Ray says
Does anybody know when drivers will start to be phased out?
Denise says
I phased myself out this month, sold my truck and gave up driving truck all together. Going back to school to learn more about computers and investing in the development of automated trucks.
OldArkie says
” in accidents between commercial trucks and cars, the driver of the car was found at fault 81% of the time.”
That is good news, my fellow truck drivers are safer drivers than I thought they were. And the truck drivers are correct, 4 wheelers are mostly causing the wrecks.
thecowboystate says
Forget driverless trucks, if you want to ensure that otr drivers slowly go the way of the buffalo, require every new cdl holder to complete two full years with swift, crst, cr england or prime…
Kevin says
Ya,,great idea… Who and what replaces the incomes of the 1o0o of drivers? No money to spend, No Amazon.