Will automatic transmissions ever replace manual tranny's in the trucking industry?

Big business will lobby congress ENDLESSLY to allow driverless trucks. They will say how good it is and how great it its. Money talks in congress, nothing else matters, so they will pass laws allowing driverless 18 wheelers on the road.

And THEN - when just one driverless truck skids on the ice and hits a school bus, or just one malfunctions and drives into a walmart going 65 miles per hour because it's on board gps messes up, then they will put drivers back in the trucks, fast. Because GPS never messes up does it?

AND - just what till one muslim crazy terrorist hacks into a trucking companys computer and sends 500 semis crashing into cars and buildings and who knows what. They will say - oh I guess we should have human drivers again.

 

It will very likely happen, but it will undoubtedly take many years before the technology is safe and reliable enough to be on the road. So this industry is probably safe for the foreseeable future

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_driverless_car

over 300,000 accident free miles in a variety of situations , including driving through city traffic in san francisco. That's obviously a tiny sample size, but it's a promising start.

I think you're kind of exaggerating, but I would bet more money on a supertrucker's ego, or an under-prepared rookie causing that wreck than a computer, once the technology is mature enough. I think the engineers who build this sort of thing are generally smart enough to include some level of redundancy on something as important as GPS, and instructions for when something fails. To be honest though, I think it's more likely that instead of eliminating the driving position all together, they'll slash the pay and have a driver present to monitor/take over in certain situations.

(also, I doubt they would use the same crappy cell phone GPS chips and software)

Sounds like the kind of thought that led to "Homeland Security", body scanners, and the government's massive, universal spying operation (which by the way, failed to prevent a terrorist attack, even after the Russians tipped us off)

But really though, I'd be more worried about a solar flare or other space weather, which could potentially interfere with/disable electronics and other equipment. Theres a better chance of that than there ever has been or will be a terrorist attack.

 

The company I haul fuel for uses mainly autos. The Volvos are excellent. You can skip shift you head off if you choose. I do all the time when empty. You have to be quick though. It will normally do it for you before you get the chance. They can also screw up like any other tranny. Was on LBJ in N Dallas the other night. 65mph it decides to go from 12th to 10th for some reason. Hit the rev limiter immediately. Shifted to manual mode. Back to 12th. While later it drops to 11. Time to head for shop. Got there and only extra was Shaker sleeper we have. 2013 UltraShift. Pain to hook up trailers. They like to surge in reverse. Tamed the beast and went back to work. 1st time I have driven Ultra in few yrs. Better but light yrs behind Volvo. Today drove regular 10 as they needed sleeper. No big deal. I prefer 18. But again a driver can drive any of them if they are paying decent. i love the guys who will quit if their company changes. How immature can you get? They will miss you-for about the time it takes to pull your name off locker. LOL

 

The dumber the driver is the smarter the truck has to be . So yes there will be a day that all the mega companies have smarter trucks than the meat in the seat .

 

The UltraShift is what I'm stuck with. Like I said, decent when it works; frustrating as all heck when it doesn't.

 

Mercedes in conjunction with the federal gov't and California is already testing these vehicles in HOV lanes in parts of Cali, the same in parts of Europe

 

Because you drove something 20 yrs ago makes it the same today? WOW, that's a backwards kind of thinking. The first computer I bought in '97 ran on Windows 98, had 1 GB hard drive, 512 MB of ram, and required a dial up modem that took 20 minutes to download a pic. the size of your avatar and wifi was unheard of. I thought it sucked and actually gave up on the internet for close to 3 yrs. My current smartphone, something that was unheard of in '97, is faster and more powerful than that first computer and modem combined.

 

Volvo/Mack, standard equipment in all class 8 tractors is either an Ishift or Mdrive transmission, the manual is an option. PACCAR is slowing going this route, as is Freightliner and Int'l.

 

I have driven both. Both have their pros and cons. Prefer a manual over automatics, that is until i get stuck in stop and go traffic in big cities.

http://www.governing.com/news/state...passes-assembly-transportation-committee.html
http://www.autointhenews.com/nevada-passes-bill-allowing-driverless-cars/
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/10/24/dc-could-pass-driverless-car-bill-by-end-of-year