“Taking the driver out is the holy grail of this technology.” Gatik CEO Gautam Narang

Because the "driver", is the number one problem? Yup. Most are improperly educated, mistaught, and inexperienced. So yah, they need to get rid of the failure of a system that puts monkeys behind the wheel.

In my view, had we HAD a proper system of training drivers, automation would not be such a hot topic. But as a profession we've become unreliable to deliver a skilled service. We screwed ourselves by letting the corporations and government do what they want with us. We've set no standards, so they lowered them for us. It's a huge shame and great reason no one respects the "knights of the road" no longer. Since there aren't any left.

Bring on the autobots!

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/08/wal...s-to-ramp-up-its-online-grocery-business.html

 

Thats not true, its nothing to do with safety and everything to do with the fact that humans are messy when doing planning and ANYTHING that removes a human makes managements job easier. Its all about the money, not safety

 

How are they going to run in winter weather? They won’t.

 

You are correct that it is all about money. No driver means ... no salary to pay, no health insurance to pay for, no social security to pay into, no workmans comp . It also means fewer office staff will be needed.

 

I agree with you, good sir, in that humans are a MESS! We get sick, we need time off for people's birthdays and weddings, we need a raise, we need a safe place to work, and respect - let's not forget we like to be appreciated. But the robots, meh.

Having said that, us in the service industry -the drivers- could have been doing a better job to not push automation so fast and impart on our livelihoods in such eager manner. I mean just take a look around, tech firms are breaking their necks to get their robots up and running, it's crazy how fast they want us all dead.

Hey! .. where's that Mr. Positive??!? .. I need me some of that radiant positivity to remind me how great everything is, again.

 

Nah, heres your positivity, its not malice, they dont want us dead or impoverished, they just dont think about the human consequences of their actions.

Management is out of touch and sets goals of automating, and the tech guys ultimately building and coding the automation do it because theyre paid well to play with the things they love, robots and computers.

IF they stop and think about it, they buy the "creative destruction" line, which states that the people out of work will just go and get as good or better of a job elsewhere in one of the new feilds.

But the history books have failed us here, it is true that young NEW workers will seek those fields and frequently do well in them, but the human cost to the 40 year old and up (and usually male) on average is lower wage or unemployment frequently ending in alcoholism, drug addiction and suicide.

The problem is NOT change, the problem is the PACE of change

 

I had to upvote you just for that line alone, I mean that's precisely the problem. We're attempting to outpace social economic factors via technological advancements, yet we're failing to consider the externalized output of such prerogatives. I think as well that automation is ultimately a gateway out of slavery, but it doesn't pan well for our mature segment of currently employed - as you say the over 40's. Which I guess is the reason they'll bring in the monthly subsidy, whatever they call it now, basic guaranteed income, aka 'welfare'. So we'll be sucking on dust just getting by while the robots do all the work.

What we should have been doing over the past 40 years was to keep mind over contingency in due of training new recruits. Making sure the corporations don't dictate the terms through strong unionship, and insisting on pragmatic solutions to commodity transport rather than mere emphasis on output of emissions, etc. Hindsight right? 20/20.

 

Please stop with the fear mongering it's utter nonsense.

Driverless trucks are another 10 years out MINIMUM.
Not only are they currently out of reach what do you think is gonna happen when it ####s up and kills someone? They can't even get a car to go down the highway without killing someone.

Not only that, are you even a driver? You think a robot is gonna back into the places some of us go to on a daily basis, manage Chicago/Atlanta traffic.
Know when to make traffic stop and when to wait? Pull out of blind drive ways using it's "hearing"?

Besides most accidents are not caused by trucks. This has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with the front capitalist drive to maximize profits regardless of the consequences.

I see my multi million dollar retirement when someone says something about driverless trucks lol.

 

Who is going to help these self driving trucks, actually do the work they need to get done? Spread gravel at a worksite, hook up the hoses to deliver fuel to places, chain up, tow the stuck trucks out, plow the roads, talk to the customers about their needs once arriving at the location, load/unload the equipment in the bush, chain said equipment down, and a million more things that need doing.

 

How about driving trucks from home over the internet? When one "driver" gets tired, the truck can be handed off to another "driver". That way humans aren't completely removed from the truck and can do the tricky maneuvering that computers have trouble with. The problem is, the corporations will outsource it to the cheapest foreigners they can find.