Drivers Your Days Are Numbered

Automation is here and has been here for those who can financially afford it. Flying cars are in the works | and other forms of vehicles.. Why not big trucks too..

 

Can't happen. Who would open the trailer doors before backing?

In all seriousness, some of the systems on the truck can be electronically monitored, but not all. If an axle bearing gives out a driver would notice and stop, but a computer driven vehicle wouldn't have a clue.

 

If it's being developed by Chrysler, you can bet it's junk.

 

Again, it needs to be noted that nobody is talking about unmanned autonomous robo-trucks. The Freightliner tech demo and its counterpart in Europe still require driver supervision and are only capable of highway running. The driver must resume control before the truck exits the highway. So how will this happen? Robo-truck is rolling down the highway, and pulls over and stops on the off ramp where there is a driver waiting to meet it and drive it to its final destination? Or when it leaves the shipper/receiver, the driver negotiates the city traffic, gets the truck to the on ramp, pulls over, sets the "autopilot" and gets out? Um, no. For the reasons that autopilot equipped aircraft have to have aircrew onboard, these trucks must still be manned. It's an impressive technological accomplishment, but it is VERY limited in capability. I consider myself pretty tech savvy, and I have no reason to believe that this tech will take over the industry any time in the next 50-75 years.

 

The problem I have is the security risk involved. The "driver" who was actively in control of the jeep as it drove down the road in St. Louis lost control as the hackers took over the AC, stereo, wipers, transmission, brakes, etc. Currently, they can only seize control over steering in reverse, but the hackers admit they are still working on that. When the hackers took over a vehicle system, the DRIVER couldn't do anything about it. He ended up obstructing traffic before they put him in a ditch.

Do you really want to be in a truck (or any other vehicle, for that matter) controlled by a computer, when that computer is taken over by another person with evil intentions? I don't.

 

I can't see how they could take over the steering. As far as I know it's law that a vehicle's steering system must be fully mechanically linked from the steering wheel to the spindles. Brakes could be possible since ABS is on everything now. Wouldn't take much for them to hack in and open the exhaust ports in the modulator valves, leaving you with no service brakes. Air park brake circuit should still work since there aren't any electronics there yet (as far as I know anyways).

 

Auto trucks... are not taking over anything....yet.
It would be a LONG time before they can make them hack proof and it would be a even longer time after that before NHTSA (national highway Transportation safety administration) gives them the ok to run the streets in in country...
My money says 30 years...before we see one truck running down the road automatically with a driver in the seat just in case something goes wrong...

http://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-highway/

 

High end Cars already parallel park themselves. That's automated computer steering.
There will be trucks that drive themselves. To worry about it is stupid. All careers evolve. So will ours. The trick is to evolve with it. Truck driving is different from 30 years ago and it will be different in 30 years from now. We may go into an office, sit at console and direct the truck from there... We may just oversee the truck from behind the wheel...we all be local drivers... Who knows...a asteroid could end the world as we know it next week too.....

 

Ford is high end?

 

Once that automated truck is able to slap dunnage on the deck of my flatbed, secure the load, sign the paperwork, navigate miles of dirt road to and from oil rigs, unsecure the load, signal the forklift driver, and figure out the best dirt roads between two really bad options that don't appear on any map I may be afraid.