Will self-driving trucks be an issue for truckers

@D.Tibbitt i agree there will be some caveats to it. But driving on the 10 from Texas to Az already has places that are under construction yet I have not heard any of these rigs havIng complications.


As far comparing a $400 GPS with outdated maps with a real time system that has better sensors and antennas is wrong.


As far as gps routing you badly is not because of connection issues it’s about quality of the unit. Owning My Garmin Dezl for a year has only had one hiccup. I update every week, and with the new Dezl models you can update maps daily if there is one right from your truck using their WiFi capability.


Also when I compared autoworkers to drivers with “autoworkers” not needing skill that’s why they can be replaced then think about this.

With majority of current driver being a steering wheel holder wouldn’t one argue that holding a steering wheel a skill-less job? If yes couldn’t it be replaced by a computer like a autoworker? If no then how are the current skill-less drivers on the road?


The world is changing the nay sayers are clinging to their “it won’t replace a driver” will be surprised soon enough. Tech world changes daily and it grows daily, It’s going to come to a day where it will catch up to the trucking world, reason for that is the trucking world has not changed.

Think of It this way.
A person started walking 100 years ago yet nothing much has changed in the walking speed now fast forward 70 years another person starts running and he or she is getting faster every day, when and where do you think the person running would catch up to the person walking?

 

Driving a truck is a he'll of a lot more skillfull than doing the same tedious task on an assembly line.. Driving a truck is more than just holding a steering wheel , I have to use common sense and logic.. Like I said robots can work in certain situations, but u guys act like it's going to turn this industry inside out in a matter of 10-15 years when that picture is really more along the lines of 50 to 60 years.. There is no way it will ever happen , u can a call me a naysayer , I consider myself a realist.. Tech is great for many things but it will never put us out of business . u will never replace a flatbed driver and securing his loads, I will never replace food service, I will never replace hazmat , I will never replace a lot of parts of this industry. Yes it works in certain situations , yes it can have real time whatever u call it , but I challenge u tech guys to look at the world as it is , instead of in ur dreams of 1s and 0s..idk about all that running stuff that makes no sense to me at all ... The reason it's a lot of unskilled drivers on the road is because that's who companies hire ... They are unskilled because this is a tough job that takes more than holding a steering wheel and it shows in the way they drove... But to undermine an entire industry because of a couple drivers bad habits is ignorant... And comparing this industry to production line work is comical , u can train a monkey to do production work , it's the same menial task over and over.. But it seems we will agree to disagree

 

But flight didn't put cars out of business and cars didn't put horses out of business , I think tech and old schoolers can exist in the same world I just hate these tech guys that think this stuff is the greatest thing ever and that the world is going to be completely automated, that picture is entirely fantasy

 

It's a great discussion and I love having it, I think u tech guys are awesome , but I think sometimes u get ahead of urself.. Elin musk is a great example , he is a great thinker, a truly brilliant person , but his ideas far outweigh the possibilities of the real world . I think we have a very very long way to go , I think we are still 50 years away from a truck doing an everyday task in the trucking industry.. Until then I will still be truckin and cussin out 4 wheelers

 

The idea the government will let a truck drive itself when best GPS in currently in the world will say your on a service road when your not and to expect they let that technology be enough. they don't want it plowing through a school bus because GPS had lag. There will be a human element for a long time trying to perfect it and even then set those lose without a safety net would be too great a risk.

 

I think the trucks are going to go through a period of time where you'll see more and more driver-assist features.

Eventually trucks will be like planes. The plane has autopilot but it also has a pilot.

So when trucks get to the point that they can go on auto driver they still will have to have a qualified driver just the way a plane has to have a qualified pilot.

 

I can argue on the qualified part as a lot of current rigs dont have one behind the wheel.

As far as having someone behind the wheel when auto pilot is perfected is not the goal of the industry, their goal is to eliminate overhead for companies.

More like having someone behind a desk somewhere driving it is a better bet.

 

That may be their goal but I don't think that we will see that happen.

The technology in Planes is much more sophisticated than the technology in trucks. Autopilot can even land a plane although I think there are certain conditions and limitations on that.

The authorities would not let a plane go up without a qualified pilot and I can't believe with all the deaths occurring with the automated Vehicles now that they are going to let 80,000 lb hurl down the road without a qualified driver to monitor it.

Maybe in a hundred years or 200 years they will but not in our lifetime.

I myself do not see that happening.

 

With that latest fiasco in Denver they will probably in time come up with a way to control the trucks coming down that hill since people are not being trained properly.

 

guess the computer will chain/unchain the tires