Semi Automated...1st self driving big rig....

[Missourian]

...

AU 010.”

License plates are rarely an object of attention, but this one’s special—the funky number is the giveaway. That’s why Daimler bigwig Wolfgang Bernhard and Nevada governor Brian Sandoval are sharing a stage, mugging for the phalanx of cameras, together holding the metal rectangle that will, in just a minute, be slapped onto the world’s first officially recognized self-driving truck.

The truck in question is the Freightliner Inspiration, a teched-up version of the Daimler 18-wheeler sold around the world. And according to Daimler, which owns Mercedes-Benz, it will make long-haul road transportation safer, cheaper, and better for the planet.

The World s First Self-Driving Semi-Truck Hits the Road WIRED
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According to the article, the vehicle will require another "couple million miles" of testing...in my experience that will be another 15 to 18 years.

I'll be 60...and that will be the end of trucking as we know it.

Seven years as the equivalent of a train engineer, and I'll be primed for retirement. Could be worse.

But it will end trucking as a lucrative career choice and a portal to entrepreneurship. I can only imagine what a truck like that will cost. A new Freightliner Cascadia runs $150,000 today.

 

[WinterBorn]

Increased regulations, higher fuel costs and lack of good drivers has been killing the trucking industry for a while.

 

[Missourian]

Increased regulations, higher fuel costs and lack of good drivers has been killing the trucking industry for a while.

Ain't that the truth. Especially increased regulations and lack of good drivers...I can live with the fuel prices. That increase is passed directly to the receiver, who passes it directly to the customer...just like tax increases.

 

[WinterBorn]

Increased regulations, higher fuel costs and lack of good drivers has been killing the trucking industry for a while.

Ain't that the truth. Especially increased regulations and lack of good drivers...I can live with the fuel prices. That increase is passed directly to the receiver, who passes it directly to the customer...just like tax increases.

One of the things I am glad to see mostly gone is the shippers who required delivery times that were impossible to do legally.

 

[Missourian]

Increased regulations, higher fuel costs and lack of good drivers has been killing the trucking industry for a while.

Ain't that the truth. Especially increased regulations and lack of good drivers...I can live with the fuel prices. That increase is passed directly to the receiver, who passes it directly to the customer...just like tax increases.

One of the things I am glad to see mostly gone is the shippers who required delivery times that were impossible to do legally.

Fortunately I haven't had to deal with that for a long, long time. The only appointments I have is when I have to meet a crane. Aside from that, the freight gets there .6 seconds after I do.

 

[Missourian]

If you can build a truck that drives itself, how hard is it going to be to to automate fast food restaurants, desk clerks, bank tellers, wait staff and cashiers?

 

[Moonglow]

The only problem is that it does not unload itself...

 

[TheOldSchool]

Intelligent systems like this and robots are going to be killing a whole lot of jobs in the future, not just trucking.

 

[Brain357]

If you can build a truck that drives itself, how hard is it going to be to to automate fast food restaurants, desk clerks, bank tellers, wait staff and cashiers?

Self check out has some of them automated already. Cash machines for bank tellers.

 

[Missourian]

The only problem is that it does not unload itself...

There are already trailer systems in place that DO unload themselves. I believe Budweiser St Louis has a system to unload an entire trailer of glass bottles at one time and puts them into the automated assembly line without need for human interaction.

Like this:



But it works with almost anything, even non-palletized product:

 

[WinterBorn]

Intelligent systems like this and robots are going to be killing a whole lot of jobs in the future, not just trucking.

Automation has already removed quite a few jobs. And it will remove more.

 

[Manonthestreet]

Never been a better time to be a driver with all the improvements the industry has seen.

 

[Moonglow]

My son drives a semi and loves it...He travels with his significant other, a beagle...

 

[longknife]

I don't see where this replaces the driver. It appears to be no more than what aircraft have - auto-pilot for when there is no need for direct pilot control. If anything, I gives drivers what they need to be able to go long distances with less stress and fatigue.

 

[Missourian]

I don't see where this replaces the driver. It appears to be no more than what aircraft have - auto-pilot for when there is no need for direct pilot control. If anything, I gives drivers what they need to be able to go long distances with less stress and fatigue.

I agree...but also likely less pay. I can envision a future where, once these systems are adopted, the trucking terminals will be moved right off the highway, and the "operators" will have just enough training to get the vehicle safely to the shoulder of the road in the event of a malfunction. The trucks will drop and hook and head back out on the highway. Local drivers (and perhaps this will be the new role of owner/operators) will handle the deliveries.

 

[longknife]

It is still going to require a skilled person to back those things up to the loading docks.

 

[depotoo]

I doubt it. If a vehicle can parallel park itself, then it won't take much to automate that.

It is still going to require a skilled person to back those things up to the loading docks.