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There is also the situation of a truck breaking down and needing repairs, which can happen relatively frequently, given the amount of miles it runs daily. Sepa

There is also the situation of a truck breaking down and needing repairs, which can happen relatively frequently, given the amount of miles it runs daily. Separately, how would a truck handle running out of gas if it spends too much time stuck in slow-moving traffic? I guess they would need electric human-operated charging stations for autonomous trucks?

twblalock 8y ago
I think they would be electric, but they could run out of battery.
rtkwe 8y ago
Both of those can be solved pretty easily, there's already a fairly strong business of roadside assistance and towing for trucks the operating company could either contract with a network of those to provide repair or refueling services or just call one from a list whenever a truck breaks down or runs out of gas (the second should be exceedingly rare).
delinka 8y ago
I could see road-side battery exchange - assistance arrives with fully charged batteries, swaps them for the empty batteries, truck rolls on. Faster than pumping fuel.
tCfD 8y ago
Tires blowing out are a much bigger (in terms of simple cost and the thornier problem of schedule optimization and ability to guarantee precise delivery times) and much more common of a problem than mechanical breakdowns. They're also a problem that does not go away with autonomous trucks or electric motors or anything conceivably around the corner, outside of some miraculous development in materials science. As such, a (somewhat) well-organized industry has developed around getting replacement supplies like tires and other accessories to the site of a breakdown as quickly as possible, and this would simply need to be extended to include whatever it is autonomous trucks would require that doesn't touch the road.
- jpm_sd 8y ago
  Why do tires blow out? Do they have a predictable lifespan? If there is a huge cost savings associated with autonomous driving, could some of those $$$ be put toward more frequent tire changes that prevent blowouts from happening? (edit) Personal injury lawyers assert that it is largely a preventative maintenance issue: http://www.kennedyhodges.com/library/the-dangers-of-a-truck-tire-blowout.cfm http://www.kennedyhodges.com/library/the-dangers-of-a-truck-... https://braunslaw.com/library/why-catastrophic-truck-tire-blowout-crashes-occur/ https://braunslaw.com/library/why-catastrophic-truck-tire-bl... http://www.attorneystevelee.com/library/the-dangers-and-causes-of-big-rig-tire-blowouts.cfm http://www.attorneystevelee.com/library/the-dangers-and-caus...
  - louden 8y ago
    It is much more than a lack of maintenance. The weight of the cargo, the temperature of the road, the way the cargo is distributed in/on the trailer and manufacture defects can all contribute to blowouts of servicable tires. Those issues also make the lifespan of identical tires vary by thousands of miles traveled. While replacing tires more frequently would reduce the number of blowouts, it would be very wasteful. In the US, DOT inspections are frequent and they look at the tires to make sure they are in good condition.
    - crazynick4 8y ago
      It's interesting that you bring up this point because these are all aspects that would have to be taken into consideration before autonomous highway driving is safe for trucks, tire blowouts aside. Most people think of driving on a highway as the simplest thing there is, but when you have tens of thousands of pounds, sometimes unevenly loaded, sometimes as barrels of liquid that slosh around and change your center of gravity, all that on a stormy, windy, icy day driving in the mountains, it can make for very uncomfortable driving. Is it solvable? I don't see why not, but I think it might be a bit more difficult than it sounds.
      - SEJeff 8y ago
Obi_Juan_Kenobi 8y ago
* Mechanical: pull over and wait for a service truck. Not much different from what happens now. Likely fewer issues overall as these trucks will probably be electric. * Route planning isn't that hard of a problem; design the system such that running out of gas/battery is a whatever-sigma chance. Automation means lots and lots of data about the roads to base this on.

twblalock 8y ago

I think they would be electric, but they could run out of battery.

rtkwe 8y ago

Both of those can be solved pretty easily, there's already a fairly strong business of roadside assistance and towing for trucks the operating company could either contract with a network of those to provide repair or refueling services or just call one from a list whenever a truck breaks down or runs out of gas (the second should be exceedingly rare).

delinka 8y ago

I could see road-side battery exchange - assistance arrives with fully charged batteries, swaps them for the empty batteries, truck rolls on. Faster than pumping fuel.

tCfD 8y ago

Tires blowing out are a much bigger (in terms of simple cost and the thornier problem of schedule optimization and ability to guarantee precise delivery times) and much more common of a problem than mechanical breakdowns. They're also a problem that does not go away with autonomous trucks or electric motors or anything conceivably around the corner, outside of some miraculous development in materials science. As such, a (somewhat) well-organized industry has developed around getting replacement supplies like tires and other accessories to the site of a breakdown as quickly as possible, and this would simply need to be extended to include whatever it is autonomous trucks would require that doesn't touch the road.

jpm_sd 8y ago
Why do tires blow out? Do they have a predictable lifespan? If there is a huge cost savings associated with autonomous driving, could some of those $$$ be put toward more frequent tire changes that prevent blowouts from happening? (edit) Personal injury lawyers assert that it is largely a preventative maintenance issue: http://www.kennedyhodges.com/library/the-dangers-of-a-truck-tire-blowout.cfm http://www.kennedyhodges.com/library/the-dangers-of-a-truck-... https://braunslaw.com/library/why-catastrophic-truck-tire-blowout-crashes-occur/ https://braunslaw.com/library/why-catastrophic-truck-tire-bl... http://www.attorneystevelee.com/library/the-dangers-and-causes-of-big-rig-tire-blowouts.cfm http://www.attorneystevelee.com/library/the-dangers-and-caus...
- louden 8y ago
  It is much more than a lack of maintenance. The weight of the cargo, the temperature of the road, the way the cargo is distributed in/on the trailer and manufacture defects can all contribute to blowouts of servicable tires. Those issues also make the lifespan of identical tires vary by thousands of miles traveled. While replacing tires more frequently would reduce the number of blowouts, it would be very wasteful. In the US, DOT inspections are frequent and they look at the tires to make sure they are in good condition.
  - crazynick4 8y ago
    It's interesting that you bring up this point because these are all aspects that would have to be taken into consideration before autonomous highway driving is safe for trucks, tire blowouts aside. Most people think of driving on a highway as the simplest thing there is, but when you have tens of thousands of pounds, sometimes unevenly loaded, sometimes as barrels of liquid that slosh around and change your center of gravity, all that on a stormy, windy, icy day driving in the mountains, it can make for very uncomfortable driving. Is it solvable? I don't see why not, but I think it might be a bit more difficult than it sounds.
    - SEJeff 8y ago

Obi_Juan_Kenobi 8y ago

* Mechanical: pull over and wait for a service truck. Not much different from what happens now. Likely fewer issues overall as these trucks will probably be electric. * Route planning isn't that hard of a problem; design the system such that running out of gas/battery is a whatever-sigma chance. Automation means lots and lots of data about the roads to base this on.