Autonomous Trucks

I like to think of automatic driving trucks in a more sane way. I think of them as Cruise Missiles for Terrorist. How long do you think it will be before a hacker figures out that controlling a truck by computer is a weapon.

No, what they should be working on is a car that changes into a briefcase with the touch of a button.

 

Driver will be held responsible for any form of hijacking. Driver will get a mark on their record and flogged in the town square, in addition to their already reduced pay.

 

saw this on the news the other day -
http://kxan.com/2017/02/05/self-driving-18-wheeler-being-tested-in-san-antonio/

 

Lets see ya back in here robot.

 

Bet he runs over the chock.

 

Driverless vehicles have been around since the late 70's and while there have been some huge leaps forward, we're not as close to mass production and ubiquity as it might seem. There are, as others have pointed out, quite a few legal and ethical hurdles to get over, not to mention public opinion. Just that last one alone have kept a lot of great ideas from being realized.

The strong point of automation is predictable, repetitive tasks. Its much easier to program a robot or system to perform the same task repeatedly than it is to give it AI and make it think for itself. Now, roadways are unpredictable by nature and some level of AI will be necessary but following that logic, I'd think those sweet line haul jobs would be the first to go. Hub to hub routes, following the same path over and over seem like they'd be the easiest to automate.

Its like anything else. Want job security? Do something that's harder to replicate. Its easy to put together and paint the same car a single color over and over. Collision repair and custom paint will always be safe because its something different with too many variables every time. Same with trucking.

 

I say before they give us Automated Self Driving Trucks they need to improve the inflatable Lot Lizards.

 

They can't even come up with a decent truck gps and you gals are worried about driverless trucks. Companies are not going to spend that kind of money on a truck that needs a driver to fuel, navigate through tunnels, icy roads, back up, open and close doors etc. I believe it's a waste of money.

 

Ask these people if they are worried about autonomous cars. They will lose their driving privileges well before you will.

 

The model I saw them working on depends on a lead live driver and up to 5 autonomous trailers. Featured on some "future of transportation" program I watch a few years ago. From there they might graduate to a live-less caravan. Who knows. But I imagine that legal and regulatory barriers would be much lower if they had a live person or 2 in the mix. Either way, there're bound to be O/O opportunities available. Start building your business credit now! Or start a co-op with 10+ other drivers (err... former drivers [O/O]).