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ABF | How long?

I can see the headline now! Robot refuses to do Turnkey assignment, rips off terminal managers head, company ditches pilot program!
 
It sounds good in theory but I don't see it happening. The day I see a tractor trailer get backed in by anything other than a human being I'll ummm errrr aaaa go change my underwears. Then I guess the door will need an automated system to unlock, open, close and lock itself. OK, let's imagine all that has happened, now who finds the freight, all the freight and only the freight that goes to that particular stop? The customer would have to strip our trailer for us, get to his stuff out and set it up for the next recipient. And when shipping those customers would have to turn those pallets sideways so the company can get those extra pick ups on board. And they'd have to back strip it and stack the other freight in there so theirs would fit as well. Just to much to do for LTL.

I have seen some automation though that could apply to some portions of truck load freight. They already have equipment that will pull pallets out of a racking system and load it into a trailer all from a computer. And two to four pallets at a time at that. And in spite of all of that I still would not want to be a 20 year older coming into this business.
 
mud said:
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I heard the guy who made that video got several hundred pages from the FAA telling him how many federal laws he was breaking, and letting him know how long he might spend in jail. Those guys got no sense of humor...
 
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It is an interesting thing though and I am dying to see how it all pans out. Will these things be able to avoid each other? And what about tree limbs and utility lines? And who pays who when one hits a protected endangered bird and someone sees it? How many family dogs and cats will be trying to take these things down?
 
ABFer said:
It sounds good in theory but I don't see it happening. The day I see a tractor trailer get backed in by anything other than a human being I'll ummm errrr aaaa go change my underwears. Then I guess the door will need an automated system to unlock, open, close and lock itself. OK, let's imagine all that has happened, now who finds the freight, all the freight and only the freight that goes to that particular stop? The customer would have to strip our trailer for us, get to his stuff out and set it up for the next recipient. And when shipping those customers would have to turn those pallets sideways so the company can get those extra pick ups on board. And they'd have to back strip it and stack the other freight in there so theirs would fit as well. Just to much to do for LTL.

I have seen some automation though that could apply to some portions of truck load freight. They already have equipment that will pull pallets out of a racking system and load it into a trailer all from a computer. And two to four pallets at a time at that. And in spite of all of that I still would not want to be a 20 year older coming into this business.
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It will happen but it may take a quantum change in the way society operates. The way society is going now, someday it will be too irresponsible to allow an individual to control something like a vehicle with no automation intervening in their actions.
.....100 years later....
I mean Imagine... large chunks heavy material hurtling down the road at the whim of a regular person? What if they have an accident? Not to mention they cant operate as efficiently as a computer....think of all those wasted resources. Besides how are you gonna convince the government to give you a vehicle in the first place. You can barely convince them to let you eat a potato chip once a week.
 
Boilerpeddle said:
It will happen but it may take a quantum change in the way society operates. The way society is going now, someday it will be too irresponsible to allow an individual to control something like a vehicle with no automation intervening in their actions.
.....100 years later....
I mean Imagine... large chunks heavy material hurtling down the road at the whim of a regular person? What if they have an accident? Not to mention they cant operate as efficiently as a computer....think of all those wasted resources. Besides how are you gonna convince the government to give you a vehicle in the first place. You can barely convince them to let you eat a potato chip once a week.
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I really don't think it will be anywhere close to 100 years. Computers already can land airliners, so I'm sure backing a trailer to a dock could easily be done. That latest info I could find on The National Traffic Safety Administration's website (year 2011) was 29,757 fatal accidents resulting in 32,367 fatalities. If every vehicle on the road were computer controlled how much less would that be? From a companies viewpoint, no more worries about hours of service, pay and benefits, or disgruntled workers... I am not advocating for this, but every new car already has many of the things needed to make this happen.
 
Still every new car still has a human behind the wheel. And when one of these fail safe programs fails, who takes over & corrects the situation? Planes get pretty low before the pilot takes over to land it. Still, there is a pilot present. Would you want to get into a plane that was run only by machine? I would not. My wife & I flew out of LaGaurdia a few years back. The train taking us to the terminal from the parking lot was all automated. The train makes a few stops and is on a track that (If I recall correctly) is not intersecting with traffic at any point.
 
grovercxl said:
Looking at this story, Driverless trucks get in shape for US Army convoy duty | Cutting Edge - CNET News,
I have to wonder what the future is in driving for those people just now getting into it... First thing to go would be linehaul, then terminal to business, then the hardest nut for them to crack will be delivering to residences. It may take 20+ years, but I don't see how it will not happen. :mad:
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of course it will happen...didnt any of you see the movie "I Robot" with will smith? if you think it, it will happen
 
foxman042 said:
of course it will happen...didnt any of you see the movie "I Robot" with will smith? if you think it, it will happen
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Didn't see it but the album by the same name by Alan Parson's Project was popular with me back in the day.
 
One stop shop just had to buy cheech and chongs big bamboo album it had the biggest rolling paper for an album sleeve
 
I've always been of the opinion that even if you have completely automated trucks,....."robot-driven" trucks,.....companies will still have a human "fail-safe" clause. We may be wearing a paper hat and getting minimum wage,...reading dirty magazines for most of your work day while the "robot" drives,.....but for when those,....."unusual" conditions occur,.....and Lord knows trucking is run by both Rube Goldberg and Alfred E. Neumann,...so "unusual" conditions occur fairly frequently,.....when they do occur, there'll be a human to seize control of the truck to avoid the situation the computer/robot can't handle. ( In reality,....mainly he'll be there to take full responsibility in the event something goes wrong. I don't think they'll ever develop a robot that the general public could sue,...or fine,..or send to jail,...or give disciplinary days off to. That'll be what the human is for. Our "jobs" are safe forever,.....as long as there are lawyers.....)
 
PSSST,the feds fly drones every day. its just a matter of time till the technology is land based.Once it becomes common and in demand by companys it will happen.in fact one of the tech companys has already tested a self driving car
 
You're right, Brother. The businesses develop the technology,...the Government tests it out ,...on our tax dollars. And,....once the technology is proven,....the businesses snap it up,...and see how many jobs they can eliminate so they can add to the profitable bottom line,........so they can buy more technology! Hell........let's just cut to the chase. Take my job away,...I'll sit at home,...send me an unemployment check,...and I'll send it right back to my former "employer".........Everyone's Happy!............errrrr,.......except me ........I'm dead from starvation......
 
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