6 ms·

Yeah, I don't understand why they aren't doing something like this. Seems like a no-brainer to have a number of staging facilities along major transport corrido

by dsnuh 8y ago

Yeah, I don't understand why they aren't doing something like this. Seems like a no-brainer to have a number of staging facilities along major transport corridors that the self driving trucks deliver to, leaving the last X miles to human drivers. The truck unhitches, fuels up, picks up a new trailer, and is back on the highway in 30 minutes. You could have these operating 24/7, with human drivers picking up loads for delivery during human working hours.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
londons_explore 8y ago
I would guess it's due to investment... Self driving experts can easily pull in salaries of $5M plus per year, and this stuff takes many years. To build a team of those people, you need to burn an insane amount of cash. That much cash is only available from investors if the reward is huge. Replacing all interstate trucking is a much smaller potential reward than replacing all human transportation. Hence everyone is working on the harder, but much higher reward projects.
- MegaButts 8y ago
  > Self driving experts can easily pull in salaries of $5M plus per year I think this is an exaggeration by almost an order of magnitude, unless you are referring to the handful of people that have had successful exits in this space.
  - maxerickson 8y ago
    Waymo is dropping billions on vehicles. Someone that they think can accelerate deploying those vehicles is worth an awful lot.
    - dsnuh 8y ago
      It would surprise me if another company didn't pick up the torch here. It sounds like Otto had a working demo of the technology. There's $800B+ on the table, someone is going to crack this market.
UncleEntity 8y ago
They are doing exactly this...with trains.
- dsnuh 8y ago
  Trucking absolutely dwarfs the train industry in America.
  - UncleEntity 8y ago
    That's just because SV hasn't disrupted the model yet... Some day some billionaire will figure out there's a bunch of wasted potential in the train transportation network and get to work fixing it.
    - dsnuh 8y ago
      I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not...
- jacques_chester 8y ago
  Rio Tinto, the 2nd largest mining company in the world, has been working on autonomous trains and mining trucks for quite a while now. Only recently approved, though: https://www.smartrailworld.com/mind-blowing-rio-tinto-autonomous-train-safety-approval https://www.smartrailworld.com/mind-blowing-rio-tinto-autono...
jonknee 8y ago
In the US at least the highway system is littered with weigh stations, those would be perfect locations for "last mile" transfers.
- dsnuh 8y ago
  And often surrounded by land I would wager the government owns, which could be used to build the transfer stations upon. Maybe even a susbsidised incentive to get companies on board, so they don't have to spend their own time and capital acquiring land.
- DoctorBit 8y ago
  They could do brake and other inspections there too.
- anticensor 8y ago
  Weight and dimension check stations would need to be considerably enlarged to allow for load handling facilities.
  - MertsA 8y ago
    If it has space for a parking spot it has enough space to transfer a trailer to a different rig. No one is talking about unloading anything, it's just lowering the legs on the trailer and unlocking the fifth wheel to let the autonomous truck pull away and back the new truck up to it.
pimlottc 8y ago
A company named Rivigo is doing something like this in India: https://www.economist.com/business/2017/09/30/rivigo-is-helping-the-indian-truck-driving-industry-out-of-a-jam https://www.economist.com/business/2017/09/30/rivigo-is-help...
- dsnuh 8y ago
  Yes, I am imagining something like this, with self driving electric tractor trailers being orchestrated at huge stations with solar collecting roofs along the transportation corridor. Inspection and maintenance could be performed by human workers if needed. If the trailer is destined within half the distance of the next station, the load is dropped, and a human driver does last mile(s) delivery.
melkiaur 8y ago
> Yeah, I don't understand why they aren't doing something like this But... Uber was planning to do exactly this ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge-4uWmuESQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge-4uWmuESQ

by dsnuh 8y ago

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

londons_explore 8y ago

I would guess it's due to investment... Self driving experts can easily pull in salaries of $5M plus per year, and this stuff takes many years. To build a team of those people, you need to burn an insane amount of cash. That much cash is only available from investors if the reward is huge. Replacing all interstate trucking is a much smaller potential reward than replacing all human transportation. Hence everyone is working on the harder, but much higher reward projects.

MegaButts 8y ago
> Self driving experts can easily pull in salaries of $5M plus per year I think this is an exaggeration by almost an order of magnitude, unless you are referring to the handful of people that have had successful exits in this space.
- maxerickson 8y ago
  Waymo is dropping billions on vehicles. Someone that they think can accelerate deploying those vehicles is worth an awful lot.
  - dsnuh 8y ago
    It would surprise me if another company didn't pick up the torch here. It sounds like Otto had a working demo of the technology. There's $800B+ on the table, someone is going to crack this market.

UncleEntity 8y ago

They are doing exactly this...with trains.

dsnuh 8y ago
Trucking absolutely dwarfs the train industry in America.
- UncleEntity 8y ago
  That's just because SV hasn't disrupted the model yet... Some day some billionaire will figure out there's a bunch of wasted potential in the train transportation network and get to work fixing it.
  - dsnuh 8y ago
    I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not...
jacques_chester 8y ago
Rio Tinto, the 2nd largest mining company in the world, has been working on autonomous trains and mining trucks for quite a while now. Only recently approved, though: https://www.smartrailworld.com/mind-blowing-rio-tinto-autonomous-train-safety-approval https://www.smartrailworld.com/mind-blowing-rio-tinto-autono...

jonknee 8y ago

In the US at least the highway system is littered with weigh stations, those would be perfect locations for "last mile" transfers.

dsnuh 8y ago
And often surrounded by land I would wager the government owns, which could be used to build the transfer stations upon. Maybe even a susbsidised incentive to get companies on board, so they don't have to spend their own time and capital acquiring land.
DoctorBit 8y ago
They could do brake and other inspections there too.
anticensor 8y ago
Weight and dimension check stations would need to be considerably enlarged to allow for load handling facilities.
- MertsA 8y ago
  If it has space for a parking spot it has enough space to transfer a trailer to a different rig. No one is talking about unloading anything, it's just lowering the legs on the trailer and unlocking the fifth wheel to let the autonomous truck pull away and back the new truck up to it.

pimlottc 8y ago

A company named Rivigo is doing something like this in India: https://www.economist.com/business/2017/09/30/rivigo-is-helping-the-indian-truck-driving-industry-out-of-a-jam https://www.economist.com/business/2017/09/30/rivigo-is-help...

dsnuh 8y ago
Yes, I am imagining something like this, with self driving electric tractor trailers being orchestrated at huge stations with solar collecting roofs along the transportation corridor. Inspection and maintenance could be performed by human workers if needed. If the trailer is destined within half the distance of the next station, the load is dropped, and a human driver does last mile(s) delivery.

melkiaur 8y ago

> Yeah, I don't understand why they aren't doing something like this But... Uber was planning to do exactly this ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge-4uWmuESQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge-4uWmuESQ