Totally autonomous trucks driving between Dallas and Houston

Until the states can keep up with something as simple as painting the lines and other infrastructure this is a long ways out. Was driving last night in the rain could barely see the lines due to plows taking up all the paint. Things like construction zones. I’ve been in zones were you can barely negotiate where the lanes are as a human. Then you got the factor of people driving with their cell phones. They’ll likely cause the accident by slamming into an autonomous truck and get a lawyer to get them paid. There will be a human in the truck always for atleast 20 years. Until regular automobiles are mostly autonomous this is gonna be an uphill climb for autonomous especially after the first major accident. Likely it’s gonna be some motorist on a cell phone.

 

Getting applicants that can pass a drug screen is a problem for many jobs, including trucking. People aren't failing them because of poppy seed bagels.

 

The key word there is "applicants". Those guys get screened out very effectively.
Do some get through the screening and into a truck? Yes but its a very small percentage.
I am just not buying that there is a big drug culture in trucking like there was in the 70s

 

Only 8 US STATES require that fuel taxes be used only for road projects. The other states collect fuel taxes and put in in the General Fund and pay for all of the state needs. In my state they will sometimes repave the same road 2 times in 3 years, plus other projects.

Also one reason road lines are difficult to see in rain & at night is when they used more reflective/visible paint people maintained higher speed in those conditions.

 

I saw one of those autonomous trucks a few weeks ago on I-45. The person was sitting in the driver’s seat with his hands in his lap. The company is Aurora. They are located on I-45 south of Dallas.

 

Just saw a article yesterday about Cali not approving unmanned vehicles over 10000 lbs even though the majority of these trucks were built or designed there lol

 

And the truck wreck lawyers are just waiting patiently for their next MEGA payday.

 

Since when does a drug problem only become important if it exceeds the drug culture of the 1970s? Any illegal drug use in the industry is a problem for whomever is injured or has property damaged. "Relax, Ethel, that truck than ran over your granddaughter has ABS brakes, airbags, and the driver didn't have as many druggie friends as his father had in the 1970s."

 

No drug user ever cleaned up his act long enough to get a job and then resumed using drugs in your world? The applicants getting caught at the pre-hire drug screen are the drug users that aren't smart enough to stop smoking early enough to pass the test. "Why do you think they call it dope?"