To provide some examples for others here. My dad has been doing truck driving for around 8-10 years so I've heard at least a few stories from it. 1) There are

To provide some examples for others here. My dad has been doing truck driving for around 8-10 years so I've heard at least a few stories from it. 1) There are really 3 kinds of truck drivers. Each of the types of truck drivers have different problems. Local drivers will be the last to have any kind of automation as they have lots of stopping. The other 2 are both mainly highway driving, so at least that part can be partially automated. (a) You have the long-haul drivers (which is what I think most people think about). These guys spend around a week at a time on the road and away from home. They are probably bringing stuff across the country, maybe with multiple pickup/dropoffs through their trip. (b) Round trip drivers. These guys will move cargo between 2 hubs, but it's done in a single day. Start at one center, haul that to another center (where you unload and reload), then return back to your starting point. My dad does this. It's around 950 miles every single day (250k miles a year), doing the exact same drive. (c) Local drivers. This tends to be delivery/pickup through some area. This covers Fedex/UPS drivers, various food delivery, and so on. 2) Weather. Weird shit happens on the roads. While some driving will be in good weather, dealing with rain, snow, and all the craziness that can come with that adds lots of complexity to an automated system. Example: ice fog. Driving through this can create a buildup of almost an inch thick of ice all over the forward facing parts of the vehicle. I'm sure this would cause problems for sensors and who knows what else. Ice fog result: http://imgur.com/xWWTC0S http://imgur.com/xWWTC0S 3) Tires. Tires on trucks blow out a lot more than on cars (mainly because they can be made of patches, plus run tires at 110 psi). This is something that just has to be dealt with more regularly on trucks while on the road. 4) Brakes. Due to their weight, brakes on trucks can go out. If you've ever driven in the mountains you know about truck runaway ramps. And even beyond that, brakes on trucks lock up. Example, my dad's truck caught on fire due to the brakes on the back of the trailer locking up (but it wasn't something reported on, and you don't notice it from the cab). If you drive for a long distance with a locked up brake, the pad will get red hot, then eventually catch up fire.