Driverless trucks are now running Dallas - Houston - without safety drivers.

"The company is working with its strategic partners Volvo Trucks and Paccar to develop self-driving trucks for high-volume manufacturing. Aurora expects its customers to buy those trucks directly from manufacturers starting in 2027 or earlier."

???
So they don't even want to buy their own trucks? How does that work?

 

Imagine an angry road ranger, mad at the world, gets up even with the driver side window to flip off the driver, only to become more enraged because there is no driver to vent their frustration on!

 

Something wrong with that.

When I am driving, if I look down at a car or pickup truck, I do not see the top half of the driver in that vehicle. Many times I don't see the driver at all.
And I am seldom actually looking down into another vehicle in the first place, so I would not notice if someone is flipping me off.

 

That's a really good question. Their trucks require specialized facilities right next to highways/interstates that function as intermediary points between actual drivers who handle pickup and delivery. If they're just looking to sell their trucks to other middlemen, rather than function as the middleman themselves, I don't know who their customers are supposed to be.

That model could only work for LTL and some dedicated lanes run by major companies. I don't see outfits like ODFL/Saia or Walmart/Target spending the kind of money that would be required to purchase and maintain these trucks, as well as build new facilities and upgrade existing ones to be compatible with them.

 

This is exactly on point.

 

I'm sure the roads will be much safer when all vehicles on the roads are robots but over the next 50 years when robots and zombies are sharing the roads it's going to look like Mad Max.

 

Currently it is 1, ONE, truck running from South of Dallas to North of Houston. One round trip a day. Don't think this will cause the trucking industry to collapse.

 

In other words, they’re looking for investors.

I can’t remember the name of the company, but they were advertising a motorcycle helmet with a 180 degree rear view camera and a heads up display akin to what a fighter pilot would see. Cost was $1400. Sounded like a great idea. I would buy one…just not the first one.

Show me that the thing actually works. Show me that it’s weatherproof. Show me that it works in case I drop the helmet. The company had all kinds of money come in, but they couldn’t get the helmet to work as advertised. Company folds, lots of motorcyclists out of money.

If I were to invest in a company that makes autonomous trucks, you would have to show me that the truck was better than the average driven truck. 300 mile dedicated route in southeast Texas is the absolute bare minimum. It’s like the Wright Brothers trying to sell their plane to a F16 pilot. Show me Snoqualmie Pass in the winter. Show me NYC. Show me an autonomous truck backing off of the main road into dock that was built 100 years ago. You’re not going to see that. Why not? Because it can’t. Should I invest in a $1400 helmet that may or may not work or should I pay $100 for something that I know?