A new self-driving truck start-up has entered the field. After unveiling their autonomous truck to the world last week, Embark is now being billed as a classic Silicon Valley upstart story – in part because its two co-founders are only 21 years old.
Embark is taking a similar approach to Otto, offering a kit to retrofit existing trucks with self-driving capabilities. Their system uses a combination of cameras, radar, and LiDAR to “see” the world around it. According to cleantechnica, Embark’s CEO and co-founder, Alex Rodrigues claims that, “the millions of data points from these sensors are processed using a form of Artificial Intelligence known as Deep Neural Nets (or DNNs) that allow the truck to learn from its own experience.”
Through past experience, that AI system has now “learned” how to see through glare, fog, and darkness. It also helps address a chief concern of autonomous-driving critics: Embark’s AI has learned, and will continue to learn, how to safely handle itself in unusual and unforeseen situations.
“We’ve programmed them with a set of rules to help safely navigate most situations, how to safely learn from the unexpected, and how to apply that experience to new situations going forward,” says Rodrigues.
Embark’s trucks have accomplished this with only about 10,000 miles of testing. That doesn’t sound like many miles until you consider that the company first received its test license from the State of Nevada in late January.
Just two years ago, Rodrigues was building a self-driving golf cart in his parents’ garage with only $10,000. Inspiration to start working on self-driving technology for trucks struck him when he was stranded on a highway for four hours with a blown tire. As he sat watching the traffic go by, he noticed that almost every truck had a ‘now hiring’ sticker on the back.
Doing research on the subject, he discovered what truckers already know – turnover is high, pay is low, and home time is scarce. So Rodrigues decided to look for a way that freight would be able to move across the country, while drivers would be able to sleep in their own beds every night.
His solution was self-driving technology that allows for autonomous driving on highways. Drivers would get in the trucks at local terminals, deliver their loads, and then send the trucks back on their way.
Highway driving is much easier to automate safely than driving on smaller streets or in populated areas. In fact, commercial loads are already being shipped using autonomous technology on highways.
“We are committed to proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that this technology is safe and reliable,” says Rodrigues. “That means performing extensive tests and working with our partners in the government to get it—and the market—ready.”
As for when the kits will be available for purchase, there’s no word yet. Rodrigues says that the company expects that it will cost less than $50,000 to outfit one of their kits onto an existing truck.
Source: cleantechnica, techcrunch, businesswire, overdrive, cnbc, kcentv, usatoday
Paul Marino says
Just another way to put people out of work….Thanks…
Georgejansen says
Not going to happen.
Josh says
Agreed.
With all the safety heaped on us, you think they’re going to trust and autonomous class A?
Not likely.
When the truck exits, you’ll need a person to account for trailer swing on turns, etc, and like it even says, you need a person for the pickup and delivery.
It’s autopilot for truckers.
Bring it on. I need to catch up on my reading.
Yoshi says
Totally Agree. I want to drive but the Schools who said that they will help you get a Class A just out to steal your money and run. Happened to me. I’m just stuck right now with a Very good Class C license and driving a Class C Bobtail.
kenneth harvey says
after nearly 38 years of trucking exp., I am glad I got out of trucking. I have been told you don’t like change but I see this new tech and just wait and see while the litigation will fill our court system.and how will they blame massive amount of lost life’s when there are no more driver error??.what computer companies brought in find fault?? wow. yeah take the human out and yes we call it progress? the future,well I for one will have no part of it.
Kelly says
Many disruptive technologies displaced humans that at first were thought would never work or humans couldn’t be replaced. We will still be needed in a different capacity. I for one embrace and the entrepreneurial spirit. It’s what had you successful as a 38 year driver and many things we have that make life better. health is another area and while far from perfect, MRIs, CAT scans, etc, are technologies that displaced some doctors but opened doors for others. With that mindset also remember dinosaurs became extinct. Other businesses flourish when those that can’t or won’t adapt become less relevant or even unnecessary. Enjoy retirement
sudon't says
MRIs and CAT scanners didn’t replace doctors. They became just another tool in their toolbox, and even created jobs for the technicians that operate them.
Driverless trucks? Well, it’s right in the description. Instead of one guy in each truck, you’re going to have one guy humping thirty trucks (or trailers) per day between the terminal and the docks.
Buggy whip makers could at least turn their skills to something else. There were still lots of leather items to make. But if a truck driver can’t drive trucks, he needs an entirely new skill-set. If this stupid kid’s idea comes to fruition, the vast majority of truck drivers will be out of work. As it is, truck-driving is the fall-back job of most of the working class in this country. In other words, truck-driving is the number one job in most states, because working people can’t find anything else. And with the destruction of the unions, not a lot of working people are going to be enjoying retirement, because almost no one has a pension anymore.
The dinosaurs became extinct due to a massive catastrophe. I guess that’s how we’re gonna go, too.
James Stahle says
Great, now the transportation industry can pay driver’s even less money! Awesome Idea to employ less Americans! I feed my family pulling freight in this already challenging industry where customers want cheap rates! I’m impressed that two kids living with mommy and daddy and probably never had any real responsibilities can invent a unnecessary product! Way to go!
Kelly says
Want some cheese to go with your whine. At least these kids are productive members of society. Not gang banging protestors wanting money handed to them because they exist. Funny I bet some people had the same attitude toward Henry Ford, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak. How’d that go?!
Max says
There is no doubt that self driving trucks are coming, but I wonder how they’re going to check in at Walmart or who is going to open/close the doors or adjust tandems, etc.
Glad I retired from driving.
Plato Easter says
ha ha ha, or hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Sitting in southern CA, where are all the ‘company’ terminals? In fact, there is less and less parking for any truck. In North Bend WA, the city council, in its infinite wisdom, denied the TA permission to expand their parking. So why would any one who knew any thing about the real world of trucking posit this opinion, contrary to everything real truckers have to deal with every day and night. Why doesn’t anyone stop agreeing with this stuff and expose this for what it is. MONEY for the trucking companies and their minions who are profiteering, again. Perhaps a campaign to ‘mandate’ pay for all hours on the job, like firemen and police? This would take the motive away from profiteers. Plus most over the road truck drivers have some gypsy in their souls. And this guy wants to take all the fun out.
R. Boone says
First off, no one said anything about taking the driver out of the truck. The driver still checks in, backs in, opens doors and sits to wait. Second, if you read the story it stated a driver would be able to sleep as the truck navigated highways. Ummm pretty sure that helps with truck stop congestion also H.O.S. Issues. You know there’s been times you didn’t get enough sleep the day/night before and you had to pull off for quick nap…this way your miles still turn and you get your sleep….
Tim Brannlund says
Disaster waiting to happen
August Gilbert says
Bad idea. Glitch in system, someone hacks in, or something else happens and system can’t react soon enough, or maybe Driver sitting there gets board and goes to sleep and misses a warning sign. Why would you need a truck that drives itself any way. Dumb idea.
Plato Easter says
You forgot the high pay scale for this elite driver.
Jose Clutsman says
This should be banned , look how many truck driving jobs will be gone, over three million.
Marion D. Hunt says
Collision mitigation systems already glitch out and shut off due to random bug splatter or weather. Looking at the video, these guys put sensors in the same area as a normal CMS. Expect them to move back in with the parents after being sued for every penny they will ever earn after killing a family going on vacation.
Joe escareno says
Sad to say but i agree with you, just a tragedy waiting to happen.
Joel says
This is another example of the idiots in the tech world being more concerned with getting rich than they are with the well being of their fellow man. This is taking jobs away, lots of jobs eventually. Turnover is due to the inability to adapt to this lifestyle. There are plenty of us that love this job and wish technology would get the hell out of it. I’ll drive my truck, just me thanks.
Short circuit says
I personally refuse to go a deliver a load that a self driving truck brings in !!!!! And most likely these companies will want to pay you around $10.00 an hour Then again if every one felt this way we wouldn’t have to worry about automation taking our jobs
IF THE TRUCK HAULS IT MAKE IT DELIVER IT !!!!!
william GREEN says
They will automate pallet deliverys too
Bill Compton says
Evidently you have not thought your remarks thru . If they can prove the technology it will take two drivers to complete the load. And if you were as savy as you think, you would realize this very concept is being utilized by our railroad companies all over the world.
Jason says
You need to think you’re comment through. Comparing a train on a set track it cannot deviate from compared to a semi truck on an open interstate or highway? Absolutely ridiculous comparison!
JT says
In total agreement, how much TIME sensitive freight does the railroad move compared to trucks?
Last time I checked Trucking Co’s don’t have a terminal in every city and town in North America, none the less a sign of things to come.Swift, England Hunt etc.etc must be foaming at the mouth waiting for this!!
Wes says
I said the same thing about inter model shipments back in the recession. If my company could have me hold down a parking lot in New Jersey for 2 days, there was no way in hell I’d pick up a load coming out of Missouri at the train terminal, only to take it 20 miles to the consignee, screw that. Trucking company’s look at the bottom line, not at whether their drivers are making a decent living.
Paul says
Truck driving has been an honorable career for millions of hard working men over the years. It has given them a decent paycheck to support their families, a worthwhile profession, and a skillset to be proud of, not to mention a lifetime of life affirming work.
It will be a sad day when a man is no longer needed, and robots take over. Yeah, lately it seems that companies are scraping the bottom of the barrel to fill seats. Why? I don’t know, because it truly is an honorable profession. Maybe we’ve raised our children to expect too much pay? Maybe companies have gotten too greedy, although haven’t they always been? But whatever the reason, a great career for family men has been turned over to cheap labor, and will soon be eliminated by automation.
Just as with farming in years past, it supported millions of families in a decent quality of life. As with farming, we had plenty of reasons to gripe about the hours and the work, but in the end it was honorable work. And as with farming, modernized mechanized and industrialized scale is driving the family man out, to be replaced initially by the cheapest labor available, and eventually by automation.
It’s a new world, but I’m afraid it’s going to be both amazing and awful. Technology is something to be proud of, but when we indiscriminately eliminate millions of good jobs we create more problems that we fix. A man was made to work and support his family. Without work his life falls apart.
Jon says
The seats are harder to fill because of Insurance Lawyers wanting to Only fill those seats with DRIVERS that never have a Bad day.
Insurance Liability Lawyers are destroying our Economy while their pockets never empty.
Gerrard says
Perfectly accurate.
Barney says
Bang on sir!
Great Post
Goodtimes says
I don’t want my wife and kids on the road with these things . Of course the ATA would love it .No driver to pay and drive nuts with endless buruacratic bs.
Rani Haj says
The truckers will be at home sleeping in their bed, broke and unemployed. We’re all screwed.
Char h says
Almost correct. The driver will be sleeping in his rent on the side of the road at night praying he doesn’t get assaulted or robbed. He won’t be able to have a bed because they took away his way to pay for it.
RAFFI EKMEKJIAN says
It sure looks nice driving on US 29 where there’s nothing what so ever for 100s of miles.
Maybe if this kid knew how to change a flat, he wouldn’t come up with a such dumb idea in the first place. Hey kid, leave the grownups do their job, and you stick to your Xbox, PS before you get people killed.
Bill Compton says
You guys amaze me! one driver to load the trailer, and return it to the yard, One driver to ride the truck for 11 hours, and one driver to deliver the load, reload, and return to the yard. And a tech. on each end to maintain the ARS, looks like a win to me. If the unit can repetitively move more freight, more revenue, more wages.
Mike says
Once everything’s automated who is going to pay for all the goods that are being manufactured and shipped , nobody will have a job hence nobody will be able to support these companies. So what then.
old man says
Until they get it down, it’s going to be hell on light poles and fire hydrants when the truck turns tight corners without buttonhooking. Company’s insurance will go thru the roof.
Charlie says
Lol. Maybe I should invent a special guard rail that hooks the side of the trailer and helps during the turn. I wasn’t going to comment but the mental picture when I read that.
Swohawk says
“So Rodrigues decided to look for a way that freight would be able to move across the country, while drivers would be able to sleep in their own beds every night.”
How’s that going to work out for the “driver”? Sleeping in own bed = ZERO pay.
On the other hand, “workers” who choose to drive trucks for a living can easily move on to other occupations in which they allow themselves to be economically raped. BOHICA.
Infosaur says
Same logic. This kid could solve hunger by refusing to give food to people.
Erran says
You can only automate the trucking industry so much but I don’t think you are going to be able to account for the realities of the job that still require a human.
Sorry I would not want to baby sit a computer all day while being physically in the truck unless I was getting paid $40,000/yr or more because in some ways now it would be more of a tech job than anything while still requiring truck driving knowledge. Even then your skills deteriorate because you are letting the computer do the driving for you.
I don’t know how you get around the log book issues at that point and as others have pointed out, someone still needs to fuel the truck (and reefer unit), someone needs to scale it out, and someone needs to have enough sense to do regular maintenance on the truck and trailer.
Oh yeah, what happens if you have a drop and hook or need to find an empty trailer?
I would not risk putting the computer on autopilot either to drive all night for me if a human was still required to be in the vehicle. Hours of service is there for a reason. While there might be alleged benefits to something like this, I don’t think the technology is there yet to fully automate the entire industry. Still too many manual moving parts.
Jude Ossowski says
What is this “regular maintenance on the truck and trailer” about which you speak?
Daehtraf says
Just think how easy it would be to make a self driving truck stop and rob it’s load.
George says
How’s that auto truck gonna to load the oversized Cat dozer or parts of a earth mover? Secure it chain it down? And auto escorts, this is funny.
LEE says
LET ALONE GET THE CATTLE IN IT AND THEN STOP TO PRONG THE ONE LAYING DOWN WHAT EVER SOME PEOPLE??? LETS SEE YOU GET THE CATTLE ON THE CATTLE TRUCK AND TO THE PROCCSING PLANT,,, I’D REALLY LIKE TO SEE IT DRIVE THE SNAKE RIVER AND HEAD OUT 12 TO TYSON AND PICK UP A TYSON LOAD… WHAT EVER!!!!
Michael Hofmann says
CMS goes off NOW for no reason. Self driving cars have already killed their passengers.
There is no driver shortage, there is a shortage of companies willing to pay for experienced professional drivers decently, therefore making the job attractive to new drivers.
This isn’t progress, it’s an assault on labor and will not make roads safer.
It will be interesting to see how the truck driver is to blame when there isn’t any.
Jeff says
I wonder how to it’s going to trying making a turn no way this is going to work another way kill jobs and people
Michael Hofmann says
Inability to run at minimum posted highway speeds will doom this assault on labor. But who will pay the tickets? Already law enforcement turns a blind eye when limiters obstruct the flow of traffic on incline, fail on minimum posted speeds by law, and spike the probability of an auto crash through excessive lane change. I know… laws are for peasants.
Thanks for the picture though, I’ll understand when I see this robot at the tail end of a rolling roadblock.
Kevin says
The inventor mentioned “real driver have little time at home”..Well, we’ll be at home too much with this! Talk about lunacy I economics.
I want to see one of these in real traffic.
Brandon Berquist says
Driver since 93. This is long over due. But they sorta already had this problem solved –RAILROAD—. Job extinction is inevitable. Currency will have no value. The meek will inherit the earth. Technology is forcing the hand of goodwill and the natural human condition. We will all benefit. We already are. Its the greatest time in history to be alive. We are close to mastering earth and many humans will live better than ever before.
History will show in the not too distant future all the money should have went into high speed electric rail for freight and humans.
Trucking cheap goods and GMO and other such fake foods hunderds and more miles away is crap. Local 3d printer shops will fabricate anything you want or need. And will go back to local farming and local support. A real social environment not that soulless screen reading anothers meaningless hollow bragging that is mostly a lie.
I’m glad I lived and got to enjoy american muscle cars.
As well as witnessing the revolution for the benefit of all human kind.
And now as Jerry Springer used to say, “Take of yourself and each other”
The days to do that are here and now and expanding to all on the planet.
Richard A. says
There are nearly 4 million truck drivers in North America. Putting these people out of work would be a devastating blow to the economy.
As usual, the only ones to benefit from automation are the greedy corporations and companies.
Current drivers would be wise to start exploring different career options. Big changes are coming soon for us.
Red says
Well I have to give the guys some credit… that is an amazing accomplishment for just two 21-year-olds BUT I do not understand why American people are so eager to put other hard working Americans out of work. It would be cool to have the truck drive while you sleep but there is no way in hell I would actually go to sleep with a computer driving! Plus the companies would not want to pay you for the miles the truck drives while you sleep so there’s no point. The government needs to put a stop to all this automated crap and just let us truck drivers drive our trucks.
claude says
the govt is what is wrong with the world now, we sure as hell don’t need more govt anything. tell me anything the govt has put their fingers in that has worked!
Linda L Huddleston says
Here’s something to think about. Has anyone ever heard of OUTSOURCING? American drivers and our economy are so SCREWED.
John Howieson says
So the truck self drives itself (call it “Big Red!” from NYC to LA? Let alone drops & pickups, who opens the barn doors? How does Big Red know which loading door? How does Big Red handle paperwork with date & time stamp? Questions are limitless! I guess “Big Red” needs a big raise!
Trent says
easily hacked, easily high jacked, easily sabotaged; technology is good only if operated in a vacuum; in the real world human nature is the greatest factor…
Paul says
Your gonna take the idea of 2 21 yr olds?? I can’t wait to see the EPIC FAIL in this! They are not solving the solution to the problem, they making it a more problem!!
John Phelan says
“Doing research on the subject, he discovered what truckers already know – turnover is high, pay is low, and home time is scarce. So Rodrigues decided to look for a way that freight would be able to move across the country, while drivers would be able to sleep in their own beds every night.”
Rodrigues decided to look for a way to cash in on freight with an idea he already had in the back of his head — maybe with the right legislation — he will be the new Mr. Gates.
1. Turnover just stopped completely — no more real need for human drivers.
2.Pay just got a whole lot lower for human truckers through unemployment insurance payments which will end in one year.
3.Truckers can now spend the rest of their lives at home sleeping if they want.
Well, scotch trucking as a career path in five years or less. Forget dispatchers too; mechanics — got AI and robots to do that really. No need for human station managers either.
Actually in ten years, no real need for any human except for the CEO. Hey look, someone has to enjoy life and it won’t be the schmuck on the bottom of the totem pole!
SEC says
I wanna know how these self driving trucks are gonna handle the S turns and mountain driving. Or driving in the rain. Or driving in a Sandstorm. Shiferbrains already complain about drivers on the road 24/7 with no sleep. Now you got robot trucks and no one to do maintenance on the truck when tires go flat, oil runs out fuel runs out. Oh yeah put reserve tanks on well when the reserves run out then what an autonomous fuel truck. Foolish men and women in official government offices making stupid decisions and giving away money for foolish ideas. And you wonder why children don’t know a damn thing about a damn thing.
Jason says
I left trucking 5 years ago. I believe that government has over stepped it bounds already and matters are just getting worse. When machines take over trucking we will see people thieves take huge portions of the cargo. So I guess the question is do you pay us to drive the trucks or drive a care around watching the trucks like security guards. Untold lives will be lost for the ” progress” and we will all suffer for it. Seems kind of crazy to me.
GC says
This is pretty bad, the kid even says: “the truck driver will be able to sleep in their own bed every night”….lol Wonder if they will even have a bed to sleep in once your take their pay away.
I realize they mentioned something about actual drivers unloading the truck then sending it on its way. How well will that work.
here is a scenario:
you have to drive with your personal vehicle to all these places where trucks deliver, you wait and wait, then get paid a minimal amount I am sure… then you rush to the next place…. for another delivery with low pay, in the end you’re up for 16- 20 hours to make enough money and finally you get home to sleep in your own bed exhausted for minimal pay (I am sure) just so you can restart the next day, your rush and wait routine, which is btw the most stressful way of life.
I am usually a positive thinker, but this! I have a not so good feeling about.
Georgejansen says
Don’t worry folks. We’ll still have jobs. 747s/A380s have pilots. Cargo ships have captains. Freight /Passenger Trains have engineers. Do u really think an 80000 pound truck will not have a driver?
Georgejansen says
Or a driver on board monitoring systems.?
Mar says
How will DOT inspect and fine a truck with no driver ? Just think of all the lost money for the poor DOT lol. Will the ticket just go in a slot in the cab lol. Anymore I am getting where I hate trucking, all the bs and low pay its time to get out.
Joe escareno says
Yeah totally appreciative of this new technology…not! Keep taking american jobs from hard working truckers, this is how we feed our families and pay our mortgages, i hope california does not allow this automation to roll freeley on our city and country roads, cause i will definately vote against it…thanks a whole lot NERDS!
Michael says
Who knows if this technology will help? Until the roads are fully automated, you need a physical driver to make adjustments in the driving, steering etc. Will the automated truck know how to pull over and make adjustments? Add antifreeze, oil? Fuel the tanks? Tie down a load? Will it have sensors to know a trailer or tractor flat has occurred? Will it be able to see a weigh station is open or closed? How will it navigate around major towns and cities where drivers typically wait for a clearing in auto and foot traffic and then utilize curbs as road ways to make turns?
Or will it just drive point to point on wide open Interstates? Will it see snow plows? Will it understand when snow and ice are stealing traction and tread and make adjustments? Or just jackknife?
In theory, pilotless planes are much more of a possibility than driverless trucks. As long as trucks are on roadways which are filled with obstacles, humans, animals, nature, and tons more, too many to list.
Maybe because I am not too smart, I cant fathom this as working and being viable. I would think that a driverless, pilotless train would be much easier and that isn’t a reality yet. I understand that a train only utilized a few employees to operate, but technically, it would be much easier to automate this than a truck and that hasn’t been done yet.
Im not worried about this technology and who knows if it will ever happen anyway.
Lady J says
People. If you do the complete research on these kits and read more of the info than what is just here, while this info is part of a larger picture, you will learn that the truck’s will have to have a driver. There are things that the driver does that an AI, especially this, cannot do. You won’t see it in your life time where truckers will be out of a job or your kids or even your grandkids. While technology is advancing it’s not advancing that far that humans will be out of the industry and not needed.
Vic says
I dont want to drive next to self driving truck. Computors overheat become slow, they glitch, they freeze, prossesors burn, wires rust or lose cinnection, what if computor loses power while driving head on with a schoolbus. What if servo for stering burns or gets mechanically damaged, what if cameras and sensors get water, salt, snow, ice. Whose gona get out of truck and do pti, or just tire check, whose gona clean up headlights, windshield wipers from ise and snow. If you build autonomus trux build separate roads for them.
Cameron Rankine says
If a web search is done for company, embark automation, you’ll find that all they are into here is the software. They have no interest in building the hardware, let alone new trucks for it to run on. This way if something happens and there is no driver, it is a conflict between them and the hardware manufacturer. Passing the liability buck like this would get expensive fast for the end users, which would be the freight companies. Also are the freight companies just supposed to buy up land next to a highway for these? As any and all of their terminals now require at least 1 traffic light to get to from the highway. Wait until a human worker in such “terminal” gets hit or has himself Run over. In most probability, they will do what other automation companies have done: tout their tech up until there is an unsolvable problem or they run up against something that can’t make them as profitable as first thought, then they sell out to another unaware company, and pocket millions. Despite Uber’s success, they have made very little money and their “angel investors” are getting a little tired of it. After all, it was Uber that bought Up Otto, letting another startup dump their “innovative trucking automation product” on them.
Percheron1 says
Autonomous trucks will never be approved for hauling hazardous loads…they may be there as an assist…but possibility of a hazmat event will keep humans on those runs
MrNA says
If an accident occurs the litigation will be a nightmare. I’m sure “computer” error vs. human error will be judged differently. This company claims making software that is “learning”. Well that is exactly what a driver does…but I trust the driver more. Driver less and automated technology has a place. It’s amazing how little grasp the enormity of our transportation infra structure and think one size fits all.
Dave says
They’ll never be able to program them to properly respond to the sea of idiots we all swim through every day. But since they’re supposedly self-learning, we’ll start hearing about autonomous road rage not soon after launch, I suspect.
Patrick says
3.5 million American truck drivers and around 10 million current drivers in the world. That’s allot of lost jobs due to company expansion. While the rich stay richer the middle class gets another kick to the shin
Phantom 309 says
I think the points here are they same, concern for human survival on all levels.
Artificial intelligence, is best observed at all levels of politics.
As has been mentioned, what happens to displaced people that no longer have a revenue stream to survive on,
These idea’s are usually implemented to profit a few elite with capital to spare.
A i is always touted as a boon to mankind, but in reality there are many examples of costly mistakes.
The only people that benefit from cost saving technology, are capitalists capitalists are not well known for passing on the savings to consumers.
Artificial intelligence is only as good as the intelligent human that programs it.
Lastly, machines return more profit on productivity than humans do, but productivity for a dimishing consumer base that can afford products.
Jeff says
Wonderful, sleep in my own bed every night. Do I get paid by the number of hours slept?
Jeff says
A human will ALWAYS need to be in the truck to interface will other humans, ie., shippers and receivers. This technology, at least for the foreseeable future will be to guide the truck down the interstate.
Charlie says
Is this the one where one “driver” maintains 30 trucks from home? This technology stuff is great when it works. Too many glitches, sensors, programs, and wiring means problems. Just look at all these fine new trucks sitting on the side of the road. I personally don’t trust it. It might work on a straight shot run like the FL turnpike, but I don’t see it in irregular route, too many variables.
john collins says
Pilots and ship captians had the same fear…this is just another fancy cruise control option for us to use on those long boring roads, just like the autopilot option on ships and planes…our jobs will just be easier
mousekiller says
Change is coming. But has anyone looked at how much money the companies will save going OTTO.? No income tax to be paid on behalf of the employee ( driver) No workman’s comp insurance to be paid. No SS to be paid in on behalf of the OTTO trucks. No medical insurance . No vacation pay to not work. Reduced office staff due to reduced number of human drivers. In case of accidents push the blame off onto OTTO and its manufactures like some try to do to the gun industry.
Add up the saving by say hundreds of drivers no longer employed and it is a huge amount of money.
Add to that the increased rates due to specialized equipment and it is a win win situation for large carriers and start ups.
GJF says
anyone notice the “stuck on the side of a road for 4 hours with a blown tire – not sure what vehicle he was driving, but if it was a car – no clue how to change a tire ????
Brown mat says
we can’t cry for everything guys… at least we can’t blame this one on obama. Pray your boy Donald saves your job.
Seriously we all know this was comping and we have to start learning something else until technology takes that away. It’s still not too late to quit playing with your money. Save save save and get out!!
Kieran thompson says
OK self drive trucks are coming but humans are still needed behind the wheel , to diagnose air and brake failure, to change tyres on roadside before it kills someone, the only thing this technology should be used for is suplimentary fatigue aid nothing more. And if it is only being used for this purpose then why spend 50k installing it just to make insurance happier and richer than they are now , just another excuse to weasel out of a crash payout, they will blame faulty install or computer malfunction and you won’t get any assistance, no suplimentary only
D dub says
First of all….This video is a complete misrepresentation of reality…..From the drone shot, the truck is doing around 20mph…..then they speed up the video…..Next , you ask why……If Trump is trying to bring jobs back, why create something that eliminates more jobs……And last…..It’s stupid, ..filled with greed intentions…..and risk of crash potential is extremely high…….Go find a cure for cancer or something really needed.
sudon't says
“Doing research on the subject, he discovered what truckers already know – turnover is high, pay is low, and home time is scarce. So Rodrigues decided to look for a way that freight would be able to move across the country, while drivers would be able to sleep in their own beds every night.”
He decided to put them all out of work!
Pete says
The real scary part about self driving trucks is, they are testing this technology on our highways right along side you and your family.Pete