Will they be able to replace truck drivers with self driving trucks?

danilee

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Do you think they will actually be able to make self driving trucks work? Without human error, there would be fewer accidents. Trucking companies will save a lot on driver pay but the cost of these new trucks will be high and what about liability?

What do you think?
 
Truck drivers will never be replaced with self driving trucks. Can you imagine the fallout from all those DMV officers being put out of work? Plus.....our government would NEVER allow any part of their regime to be cut that drastically.
 
I don't think self driving cars/trucks could possibly work long term unless everything was driverless. Then there is always the unknown or uncontrollable factors. Weather, conditions and moving obsticals. Such as deer, avalances, mudslides, ice, snow ect ect ect.
 
This has been discussed before on this forum. With the recent news about Jeep on board computers being accessed by hackers I think there would be a huge security concern. I can see a fleet of automated controlled trucks being held ransom by hackers. If the owner didn't pay, the trucks could not be safely moved.
There would have to be changes in highways for automated trucks especially secondary roads. I don't expect to see automated trucks in my lifetime.
 
Maybe road drivers,with the exception of who will hook & unhook the trailers?
Also city drivers could never be replaced,will there be computers to load & unload?
Plus heres a Hugh issue,what will happen if the satellites sending signals to all the computers gets blocked?
Yup you got it everyone dependent on technology will suddenly become a big dummy.
 
Electronics lock up and have to be restarted all the time. I'd love to see what happens the first time a driverless vehicle needs to be restarted.
 
Just a small amount of research opened these news articles:

When Will Self-Driving Trucks Destroy America?
Driver LESS vehicles are classed as Level 4. The current suggestion from Freightliner, which REQUIRES a Human driver, is Level 3.
Suggestions for Level 4 are eliminating the Tractor altogether and motorizing the Trailers yet HOW they will be guided apart from G.P.S. is 3-D mapping every inch of the roads (as Google driver free vehicle designers claim), according to the above Bloomberg article.

U.S.D.O.T.
NHTSA defines vehicle automation as having five levels:

No-Automation (Level 0): The driver is in complete and sole control of the primary vehicle controls – brake, steering, throttle, and motive power – at all times.

Function-specific Automation (Level 1): Automation at this level involves one or more specific control functions. Examples include electronic stability control or pre-charged brakes, where the vehicle automatically assists with braking to enable the driver to regain control of the vehicle or stop faster than possible by acting alone.

Combined Function Automation (Level 2): This level involves automation of at least two primary control functions designed to work in unison to relieve the driver of control of those functions. An example of combined functions enabling a Level 2 system is adaptive cruise control in combination with lane centering.

Limited Self-Driving Automation (Level 3): Vehicles at this level of automation enable the driver to cede full control of all safety-critical functions under certain traffic or environmental conditions and in those conditions to rely heavily on the vehicle to monitor for changes in those conditions requiring transition back to driver control. The driver is expected to be available for occasional control, but with sufficiently comfortable transition time. The Google car is an example of limited self-driving automation.

Full Self-Driving Automation (Level 4): The vehicle is designed to perform all safety-critical driving functions and monitor roadway conditions for an entire trip. Such a design anticipates that the driver will provide destination or navigation input, but is not expected to be available for control at any time during the trip. This includes both occupied and unoccupied vehicles.

Truck Platooning and Beyond
While fully self-driving trucks may be some time off, it is clear that they offer many potential benefits.
The first impacts of autonomous trucks may be on warehouses, not highways.

Driverless truck corridor from Mexico to Manitoba proposed
Trucks hauling cargo from Canada through the United States to Mexico and back navigate border crossings without the need for passports, visas or even a driver to steer them.

It's an idea that's not too far-fetched, says a group that met in North Dakota last week.

Marlo Anderson with the Central North American Trade Corridor Association says members are working to turn the idea into reality.

The plan is for an autonomous vehicle corridor along Route 83, which runs north-south through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota. The road then continues into Manitoba.

A bit of fun from Suncor in Canada. Australia is already using Level 4 Mining Equipment.

Daddy, What Was a Truck Driver?
And then one day, man went the way of the mule.

Hope you as well have learned something.
CHEERS!!
 
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Off road automated trucks probably will be common especially where there is a large fleet & they are confined to the area like the oil patch fleet. A highway dedicated to driver less vehicles would be feasible. I don't know if taxpayers would approve funding such a highway when the motoring public would not have access to it. I also wonder about the cost of construction of this highway compared to traditional roads.
It might be difficult to convince people that driver less trucks would be safe on public roads.
 
They currently make equipment that can load and unload trailers out of and into warehouse racking systems so why not self driving trucks? If mankind outlasts global warming:hilarious: I could see it happening.
 
Do you think they will actually be able to make self driving trucks work? Without human error, there would be fewer accidents. Trucking companies will save a lot on driver pay but the cost of these new trucks will be high and what about liability?

What do you think?

i hope so. then when they arrive at the shipper or receiver, someone other than the trucker will actually have to load/unload that trailer.!
 
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