Autonomous Paccar trucks hit the road with FedEx deliveries

I certainly see a remote driver scenario over driverless

 

Haven't been on this forum in months. I am actually a "Autonomous truck operator" for Aurora (the company in the article). Like the article states, we are running fed ex line hauls up and down 45 in autonomy.

I always shrugged and dismissed the idea of autonomous trucks until I passed one on I-20 and it peaked my curiosity. I joined the company to learn about autonomous vehicles and the impact it can have on the trucking industry. I don't regret my decision on coming here. Paid a great hourly wage plus OT after 8. Paid lunches and travel, home daily with one layover every two weeks, 2 weeks paid vacation, unlimited sick time. I can go on about the perks of the company. It's impressive what these engineers and the team as a whole are able to put out. The trucks learn from the drivers and the engineering team takes our feed back after every ride.

As someone who is the son of an independent old school produce hauler I can say this, we don't have anything to worry about when it comes to our livelihood. You don't have to accept it or agree with it, just keep on trucking. At least we stay in the right lane lol I can try and answer any questions. I can't disclose too much information, but figured I'd chime in and bring some light to this.

 

Ok, @jdiesel3406, first question that immediately comes to mind: how in the world do you keep paying attention when you are just sitting there watching the rig do it’s thing?

 

Well, it actually keeps you on your toes since you have to constantly monitor it's behavior, that's literally my job. Drivers are paired with someone who monitors the trucks system from the passenger seat. Their job is to call out what the truck is seeing and what actions the truck is wanting to take in a certain situation for example, as a courtesy it'll move one lane to the left if possible to let a vehicle merge onto the highway. The "right seater" will call out the trucks intentions and then I make sure that we are OK to complete the action.

So while I do miss having the freedom of listening to my podcasts, music, or whatever nonsense is being spewed on the CB, having someone to talk and laugh with makes the miles go by quickly. The company does allow us to listen to the radio so that helps as well.

Now as far as "driving" the truck goes, my hands are on the wheel at all times. I don't grip it hard enough so as to let it glide throw my palms and fingers. If I'm accelerating or going down the road then I have my foot slightly on the fuel pedal, if I'm anticipating a slow down then I hover over the brake. Any input from the steering wheel, fuel, or brake pedal will quickly and seamlessly disengage autonomy and I will regain manual control of the truck. The company empowers every operator to use their discretion when it comes to disengaging if they ever feel uncomfortable. Like I mentioned before, after every ride we write a report on what we encountered and we send that off to the engineers to make the appropriate adjustments, if any.

 

do you feel the trucks are improving after every run? If yes when do you think Autonomous trucks will start driving by themselves? also is your company expanding the trucks in service?

 

Agreed. Like flying a drone. The younger video game generation would probably love the job. Can stay home and pilot the truck. When their shift is up someone else logs in and the truck never stops rolling. There will probably be robots working the docks by then too.

 

I cant wait to see the first one with no driver, I may run it off the road for fun.

 

Half the drivers can’t do that

 

No, every truck, instead of having one "driver" do all of those tasks, will have a "team" of at least 4 or 5 others doing it.
Great labor savings don't you think?