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The salary of the driver is mostly inconsequential - in Western Australia, they have trouble getting people out there for any price. So autonomous trucks are go
by another-one-off 13y ago
The salary of the driver is mostly inconsequential - in Western Australia, they have trouble getting people out there for any price. So autonomous trucks are good because they solve the risk and delay associated with finding an operator.
Autonomous trucks will get to the stage where they simply don't stop. Human operated trucks need breaks, and make mistakes. So it doesn't matter if they cost more - they also produce more.
Finally, autonomous trucks don't cause OH&S incidents nearly as easily. This is a huge issue, especially for a company like Rio Tinto. In Australia at least, OH&S issues can shut mines down. This alone would probably be worth any price premium in the million dollar order of magnitude.