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I feel like the ideal scenario would be to prioritize self driving truck at set times and set long haul freeways (i.e. Long Beach to Las Vegas or Galveston to D

I feel like the ideal scenario would be to prioritize self driving truck at set times and set long haul freeways (i.e. Long Beach to Las Vegas or Galveston to Dallas) during the night time when there is no regular auto traffic - for example from 1 am-6 am. That way if a human driver is concerned, they can choose not to drive during this period of time. Perhaps run the trucks in a train style configuration where a "conductor" can sit in the lead truck and manage any emergency issues that arise (i.e. security, crash or weather related). If fully autonomous, I could see securing the cargo being real issue - what would stop a few cars passage in front of the truck and helping themselves to the cargo.

reaperducer 1y ago
Put the driverless truck in their own roads and you've just reinvented the train. The only difference is how maintenance of the route is paid for.
- somethoughts 1y ago
  Yes - agreed if we had dedicated truck train roads. The proposal I would prefer is to do more of a time based multiplexing of the road between daytime auto traffic and night time truck train traffic. And I'm not saying autos couldn't drive at night, just people could decide whether they want to trust the autonomous truck software. As it stands we probably won't get that choice and its just shoved upon us.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
insane_dreamer 1y ago
In other words, trains
- cenamus 1y ago
  Yeah, sounds almost like Musk's hare-brained plan to put self-driving teslas (driving with only a couple metres separation) in paved tunnels. I guess some people really hate sharing the bus/car/train with poor people
  - somethoughts 1y ago
    Quite the opposite - right now (or at least in the future unless interventions are added) poor people have no option but to submit themselves to driving sandwiched amongst with 10 ton trucks driven by who knows what, vibe coded, beta tested, "AI" software.
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
- somethoughts 1y ago
  Slight difference is that there are more lanes and there's dual usage (daytime - regular auto access, nighttime - truck train access). The benefit is to utilize existing access rights and infrastructure.
  - insane_dreamer 1y ago
    The freight rail network is fairly expansive[0] -- sure not as much as the Interstate road network, but has pretty good coverage. The reason trucks are so popular and necessary is because they go beyond the interstate highways. Until self-driving trucks handle that portion safely and successfully, they're not much more useful than trains. [0] https://external-preview.redd.it/VPeHZG0mzsNhJGAHJglxW1jn4Y0Vr4UCbPLG27bUZ4I.jpg https://external-preview.redd.it/VPeHZG0mzsNhJGAHJglxW1jn4Y0...
    - AlotOfReading 1y ago
      This wildly misunderstands the nature of modern trucking. Trucks have many different roles, they're not just trains that don't need tracks. Trucks can work as on-demand transport, they can do low-volume, infrequent trips, they can aggregate and offload containers much easier, they're universally receivable at both ends with a minimum of infrastructure, etc. These autonomous trucks are competing with long haul human-driven trucks taking stuff from one depot to another, not short haul trucks.
- relativ575 1y ago
  Can you come up with a plan to ship Budweiser beer to the consumers around the country via train?
  - insane_dreamer 1y ago
    I might, for a better tasting beer ;)
slillibri 1y ago
The problem with this is we live in a 24 hour world. When I worked 2nd shift, I got out of work at 2am so I would have to “choose not to” use the highway to get home. Also, emergency vehicles also use highways.
- somethoughts 1y ago
  Agree -but the alternative is that at no point does anyone get to chose to opt out of driving amongst a sea of 10 ton self driving trucks.
  - singleshot_ 1y ago
    I have some bad news for you: those trucks are eighty thousand pounds gross.
JumpCrisscross 1y ago
> if a human driver is concerned, they can choose not to drive during this period of time Self-driving cars are currently proving safer than manually-piloted ones. There isn’t a good reason to segregate traffic like this. > what would stop a few cars passage in front of the truck and helping themselves to the cargo Why do you think a trucker would risk life or even their truck in a highway robbery?
- somethoughts 1y ago
  Actually interestingly the primary benefit of doing this would actually be trucking companies. The AI software could probably work way better and have less liability if not having to deal with corner cases of irrational human drivers. Unfettered access to 5 lanes of freeway.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
- viraptor 1y ago
  > Self-driving cars are currently proving safer than manually-piloted ones. As a general thing, no, we've not really had study confirming that. The stats we have are biased by the feature preselecting good drivers, good weather conditions, known road segments, and other things.
- triceratops 1y ago
  > Why do you think a trucker would risk life or even their truck in a highway robbery? That's an armed robbery whereas stealing from a robo-truck is more like breaking and entering. Robberies require the willingness and ability to commit violence. Having a human witness present means more risk of things going wrong, even if they don't intervene. I think all these factors prevent a lot of potential crimes.
  - mulmen 1y ago
    These trucks are already covered in cameras. The self driving ones even more. How does this highway robbery even work? You force the autonomous truck to stop, take an angle grinder to the doors, then... unpack all the crates and boxes and hope you find something good that's also small enough to get away with? it just doesn't pass the sniff test for me.
mulmen 1y ago
> I feel like the ideal scenario would be to prioritize self driving truck at set times and set long haul freeways (i.e. Long Beach to Las Vegas or Galveston to Dallas) during the night time when there is no regular auto traffic - for example from 1 am-6 am. But why though? These trucks will be safer than humans at the wheel. The most dangerous thing on the road will continue to be the humans driving next to the truck. > That way if a human driver is concerned, they can choose not to drive during this period of time. Why should we care about the concerns of a human driver? I don't get a choice to opt out of pedestrian smashing SUVs. > Perhaps run the trucks in a train style configuration where a "conductor" can sit in the lead truck and manage any emergency issues that arise (i.e. security, crash or weather related). What possible value will a human offer in that circumstance? We already have weather reports. Anyone willing to provide security is going to be prohibitively expensive and doesn't need to actually be in the truck. Autonomous vehicles are better at avoiding and responding to accidents than humans. > what would stop a few cars passage in front of the truck and helping themselves to the cargo. The FBI? What stops highway robbery today?
- anigbrowl 1y ago
  What stops highway robbery today? Logistics. Unless you know exactly what's in the cargo, it's probably not wortht he effort because you might get a load of toilet paper. Also getting your ill-gotten gains away from the scene is going to be a lot of work, how much stuff are you going to be able to unload before the cops show up and how many vehicles will you need to get it? You'd be better off stealing the truck itself.

reaperducer 1y ago

Put the driverless truck in their own roads and you've just reinvented the train. The only difference is how maintenance of the route is paid for.

somethoughts 1y ago
Yes - agreed if we had dedicated truck train roads. The proposal I would prefer is to do more of a time based multiplexing of the road between daytime auto traffic and night time truck train traffic. And I'm not saying autos couldn't drive at night, just people could decide whether they want to trust the autonomous truck software. As it stands we probably won't get that choice and its just shoved upon us.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

insane_dreamer 1y ago

In other words, trains

cenamus 1y ago
Yeah, sounds almost like Musk's hare-brained plan to put self-driving teslas (driving with only a couple metres separation) in paved tunnels. I guess some people really hate sharing the bus/car/train with poor people
- somethoughts 1y ago
  Quite the opposite - right now (or at least in the future unless interventions are added) poor people have no option but to submit themselves to driving sandwiched amongst with 10 ton trucks driven by who knows what, vibe coded, beta tested, "AI" software.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
somethoughts 1y ago
Slight difference is that there are more lanes and there's dual usage (daytime - regular auto access, nighttime - truck train access). The benefit is to utilize existing access rights and infrastructure.
- insane_dreamer 1y ago
  The freight rail network is fairly expansive[0] -- sure not as much as the Interstate road network, but has pretty good coverage. The reason trucks are so popular and necessary is because they go beyond the interstate highways. Until self-driving trucks handle that portion safely and successfully, they're not much more useful than trains. [0] https://external-preview.redd.it/VPeHZG0mzsNhJGAHJglxW1jn4Y0Vr4UCbPLG27bUZ4I.jpg https://external-preview.redd.it/VPeHZG0mzsNhJGAHJglxW1jn4Y0...
  - AlotOfReading 1y ago
    This wildly misunderstands the nature of modern trucking. Trucks have many different roles, they're not just trains that don't need tracks. Trucks can work as on-demand transport, they can do low-volume, infrequent trips, they can aggregate and offload containers much easier, they're universally receivable at both ends with a minimum of infrastructure, etc. These autonomous trucks are competing with long haul human-driven trucks taking stuff from one depot to another, not short haul trucks.
relativ575 1y ago
Can you come up with a plan to ship Budweiser beer to the consumers around the country via train?
- insane_dreamer 1y ago
  I might, for a better tasting beer ;)

slillibri 1y ago

The problem with this is we live in a 24 hour world. When I worked 2nd shift, I got out of work at 2am so I would have to “choose not to” use the highway to get home. Also, emergency vehicles also use highways.

somethoughts 1y ago
Agree -but the alternative is that at no point does anyone get to chose to opt out of driving amongst a sea of 10 ton self driving trucks.
- singleshot_ 1y ago
  I have some bad news for you: those trucks are eighty thousand pounds gross.

JumpCrisscross 1y ago

> if a human driver is concerned, they can choose not to drive during this period of time Self-driving cars are currently proving safer than manually-piloted ones. There isn’t a good reason to segregate traffic like this. > what would stop a few cars passage in front of the truck and helping themselves to the cargo Why do you think a trucker would risk life or even their truck in a highway robbery?

somethoughts 1y ago
Actually interestingly the primary benefit of doing this would actually be trucking companies. The AI software could probably work way better and have less liability if not having to deal with corner cases of irrational human drivers. Unfettered access to 5 lanes of freeway.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
viraptor 1y ago
> Self-driving cars are currently proving safer than manually-piloted ones. As a general thing, no, we've not really had study confirming that. The stats we have are biased by the feature preselecting good drivers, good weather conditions, known road segments, and other things.
triceratops 1y ago
> Why do you think a trucker would risk life or even their truck in a highway robbery? That's an armed robbery whereas stealing from a robo-truck is more like breaking and entering. Robberies require the willingness and ability to commit violence. Having a human witness present means more risk of things going wrong, even if they don't intervene. I think all these factors prevent a lot of potential crimes.
- mulmen 1y ago
  These trucks are already covered in cameras. The self driving ones even more. How does this highway robbery even work? You force the autonomous truck to stop, take an angle grinder to the doors, then... unpack all the crates and boxes and hope you find something good that's also small enough to get away with? it just doesn't pass the sniff test for me.

mulmen 1y ago

> I feel like the ideal scenario would be to prioritize self driving truck at set times and set long haul freeways (i.e. Long Beach to Las Vegas or Galveston to Dallas) during the night time when there is no regular auto traffic - for example from 1 am-6 am. But why though? These trucks will be safer than humans at the wheel. The most dangerous thing on the road will continue to be the humans driving next to the truck. > That way if a human driver is concerned, they can choose not to drive during this period of time. Why should we care about the concerns of a human driver? I don't get a choice to opt out of pedestrian smashing SUVs. > Perhaps run the trucks in a train style configuration where a "conductor" can sit in the lead truck and manage any emergency issues that arise (i.e. security, crash or weather related). What possible value will a human offer in that circumstance? We already have weather reports. Anyone willing to provide security is going to be prohibitively expensive and doesn't need to actually be in the truck. Autonomous vehicles are better at avoiding and responding to accidents than humans. > what would stop a few cars passage in front of the truck and helping themselves to the cargo. The FBI? What stops highway robbery today?

anigbrowl 1y ago
What stops highway robbery today? Logistics. Unless you know exactly what's in the cargo, it's probably not wortht he effort because you might get a load of toilet paper. Also getting your ill-gotten gains away from the scene is going to be a lot of work, how much stuff are you going to be able to unload before the cops show up and how many vehicles will you need to get it? You'd be better off stealing the truck itself.