The Future of Trucking

I doubt it will happen. The autonomous cars will probably be programed by some idiot who thinks its OK to pull in front of a rig with 2 feet between the bumpers.

 

We will run out of fossil fuels before trucks become automated.

 

The future will be drones, coming and going to the shippers and receivers. No more backing, into tight spots, the trailer will be neatly dropped into place. No more construction zones, DOT scale house, 2 hour parking limits.

The "future" truck driver, will be a 7 year old, operating the remote control.

 

i'm 62 wont happen in my lifetime

 

97 percent

 

Trucking will never be obsolete, there will always be a need to move freight. Truck drivers are a different story though.

Its doubtful that drivers will become completely obsolete in all forms of trucking. There will likely always be a need for human involvement at least some segments of trucking operations. But that involvement will become less and less being a 'driver' and more and more being an 'operator'. The truck will do more and more of the driving as the technology develops. And there will very likely be certain segments of trucking, DC to DC OTR for example, that will eventually require no operator at all.

Someone at the departing DC checks the truck is ready to run, taps a button and sends it on its way, then someone else at the receiving DC will check the truck in, do a mechanical inspection, service fluids etc, and get it turned around heading for another run.

We can only guess as to whether this will happen in our lifetime but my hunch says it will. One thing is sure. More and more technology will continue to find its way into the trucks which will limit/control exactly what the driver can and cannot do and how the driver can do it. I tell my drivers now not to expect or encourage their kids to go into trucking because the days of the truck driver are numbered.

 

I find it hard to believe autonomous trucks will ever operate on the same roadways as human-driven cars. Either all vehicles will be autonomous (probably will happen someday, just not soon) or you will have to have truck-only highways (never gonna happen).

Society is more forgiving of people than machines. The public outcry from just one fatal accident involving a computer-driven truck could probably shut the whole thing down.

 

Completely autonomous vehicles exist and are operating side by side with regular cars and trucks on highways right now. The technology exists now and works well. Adapting that technology to large trucks and their particular operating characteristics will not be particularly difficult.

 

I would like to see that happen i bet some people will just pass the truck caught him off nd brake boom free money.