More Geeks wanting to develop autonomous trucks

It's not about doing it better. It's about doing it cheaper.

 

I am not a Gates or Windows fan, but what Bill has done - no one else has.
Sure, there have been problems and off center versions. But it is still the most popular operating system in the world.

Autonomous trucks are in the near future, make no mistake.
The question that needs to be answered is, will they really be any safer?

Bill and Windows have gone a long way over the years, but I've never heard of lives being lost by a glitch or virus.
A glitch in those new trucks will cost many lives.
Just a smart hacker driving behind could override the system through WiFi.

From what I have heard about the system, 'drivers' would not be allowed to sleep during the driving shift.
The driver in the truck that was following the lead truck, 50 feet or so ahead, would be required to be in the seat and ready at all times to respond to an emergency situation.

I'm wondering how much more stress could be put on a person, to be in a tailgating situation for hours just waiting to respond.

 

megas have their puppets in congress pushing speed limiters on trucks to make trucking safer. but want 80,000lb driverless trucks.

 

There is a push now for over 80k and even longer trailers.
Is that the mega carriers as well?

 

you guessed it

 

I keep on seeing and hearing of this wonderful technology yet there isn't one single autonomous car on the road least of a truck. I mean it;s a wonderful idea but driving from point A to point B is the easy part. And that's the part they show over and over, on a road with little or no traffic. What do you do with a blowout, break down, detours, refuel pretty much 99% of the things truckers deal with that it can't do by itself.

Yeah the reality of autonomous truck is at least 35 years away if we are "lucky". I would like to see it as a driver's assist,auto driver same as autopilot in an aircraft. Once underway you set the auto drive and you monitor and adjust as you roll down the road. Even though aircraft can go from takeoff to landing autonomously they still don't and for a reason. Same as the guys who work the control room at a nuclear power, or any power plant. I believe trains are autonomous yet an operator has to be there. Artificial intelligence needs to be developed and we aren't there yet. The human factor still wins with dealing with the anomaly and the last I've checked, computers still crash. Each and everyone of them at some point. An aircraft actually has it easier than a truck. Once airborne there really isn't much that will change in flight.

What about security? A driver secures the load. A self driving truck would be easy target for thieves.

However this idea, with computer geeks exploring opening up a transportation company with autonomous trucks, will fail just as sure as having women in the infantry or tanks. You will never hear about it but poof, they'll be gone. Like I said, auto drive trucks will be adopted as a safety feature to help reduce human error, or at least driver's fatigue. You will have a robot co-pilot for the most part.

 

I like how these stores suggest they can help with the impending doom of drivers shortages and then say a driver will be in the truck. Unless one driver is operating more than 1 truck at a time it can't possible resolve a driver shortage. There is NO CHANCE multiple "drone" trucks will be "tailgating" close enough to prevent cars from getting between them, just ask any truck driver if car drivers can wedge a 20 foot car into a 2 foot space.

I don't see DOT reclassifying a driver sitting in the driver seat monitoring the truck(s) as Off-Duty or Sleeper time, so how will that save any hours for later? Does anyone see all these new CDL drivers wanting to drag 53 or 57 foot trailers through town all day, every day while the robot trucks do the easy work between states? 3/4 of new drivers can't park a truck without 75 feet of empty space directly in front of their parking space or dock door. New drivers are about at the limit of their abilities going straight down the interstate in the middle of nowhere. City driving only? How do you say that in Russian, Polish, Serbian, or Somali?

I can see the ads for new drivers:
Get your CDL, earn $10/hr, be stuck in city traffic all day, every day and never get out of one zipcode.
I'll believe it when I see it. I used to fly planes and there is a HUGE difference between an engineer fantasy and actual operation.

 

I test drove a new Civic equipped with Honda Sensing. It ain't autonomous but they're a lot closer than you guys want to believe.

 

Yes. Or at least it'll help us be that much better.

Um, okay? You do realize Windows was a game changer?