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My impression from riding along with my parents is that every day is filled with mostly improvisation. From dealing with bad, aggressive drivers who will get yo

My impression from riding along with my parents is that every day is filled with mostly improvisation. From dealing with bad, aggressive drivers who will get you and themselves killed, to rapidly changing road and weather conditions, to widely disparate entrances and loading docks, inaccurate GPS, etc. it just seems like the times that the self-driving would benefit are so infrequent with regular cross-country driving and delivery. This seems so different than a self-driving car that mostly is going to take you to and from work and the grocery store, etc. There is also the liability issue, I mentioned that things are rigged to dump the hassles on the drivers and this is one of them. You're economically pressured to falsify log data, so when you nod off and accidentally kill some people, your employer is off the hook. A nice working self-driving truck would reduce fatalities caused by gross driver error, but I guess it would put the trucking company back on the hook in the cases where a catastrophe did happen. In the short term self-driving vehicles might be undesirable to some companies because it might eliminate their ability to shove negative externalities onto a third party (the drivers.) self-driving commercial trucks will happen, I just think 5-8 years is not likely.

msane 12y ago
Interesting. Yes I can imagine it being exception after exception. The liable party point is definitely an interesting factor. I guess it would be arranged by contract to flow through to the company providing the automation system or the trucks themselves. Not that the distribution company wouldn't have responsibilities in the event of an accident they would otherwise have figured a way out of, and other new diligence in general. Whatever system does it, it will have to be able to handle a bunch of wild situations autonomously. After thinking about it I don't think any sort of remote operation can be relied on as a technology to the degree that hypothetical laws would require.
olalonde 12y ago
Maybe they will initially be used for long straight lines on highways and the human drivers will only be responsible for the "last mile" drive.
- the_ancient 12y ago
  I fully expect the interstate system to be the first fully automated road network... You drive up the ramp, either in a truck or a car, and at some point the on board computer takes over, when you get to your preprogrammed exit number the car/truck gives the driver back control once it is on the exit ramp, if the driver does not acknowledge control the car automatically decelerates and pulls off the road way
- VLM 12y ago
  We call that a "train". Steel wheels on steel rails just works better over long distances. Then trucks to haul from station to individual loading docks. I also live about 25 miles from a small port that on rare occasion does get container freight traffic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermodal_freight_transport http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermodal_freight_transport Lots of existing infrastructure for this, cheaper to use than to put AI in each truck.
  - angry_octet 12y ago
    I'd love to agree because rail is beautiful. However rail is even more over regulated than trucking. Also it requires massive capital investments, both in the rail system and operators to get economies of scale, which causes problems with monopolistic pricing. Also the trucking industry has huge $$$ influence on politicians. On the plus side for rail, high speed automated container systems could significantly reduce delays, automate shunting yards, etc. The difference between automated docks like Rotterdam and the manual way trains are loaded is stark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxXZQ7emHC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxXZQ7emHC0 http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/35955-extreme-engineering-loading-container-train-video.htm http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/35955-extreme-engi... The use of driver-less trains is feasible, but the rail network (especially signalling) in America is so antiquated. Perhaps outsource it to the Netherlands... Automated rail container system fails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7I4wa1gpoc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7I4wa1gpoc

msane 12y ago

Interesting. Yes I can imagine it being exception after exception. The liable party point is definitely an interesting factor. I guess it would be arranged by contract to flow through to the company providing the automation system or the trucks themselves. Not that the distribution company wouldn't have responsibilities in the event of an accident they would otherwise have figured a way out of, and other new diligence in general. Whatever system does it, it will have to be able to handle a bunch of wild situations autonomously. After thinking about it I don't think any sort of remote operation can be relied on as a technology to the degree that hypothetical laws would require.

olalonde 12y ago

Maybe they will initially be used for long straight lines on highways and the human drivers will only be responsible for the "last mile" drive.

the_ancient 12y ago
I fully expect the interstate system to be the first fully automated road network... You drive up the ramp, either in a truck or a car, and at some point the on board computer takes over, when you get to your preprogrammed exit number the car/truck gives the driver back control once it is on the exit ramp, if the driver does not acknowledge control the car automatically decelerates and pulls off the road way
VLM 12y ago
We call that a "train". Steel wheels on steel rails just works better over long distances. Then trucks to haul from station to individual loading docks. I also live about 25 miles from a small port that on rare occasion does get container freight traffic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermodal_freight_transport http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermodal_freight_transport Lots of existing infrastructure for this, cheaper to use than to put AI in each truck.
- angry_octet 12y ago
  I'd love to agree because rail is beautiful. However rail is even more over regulated than trucking. Also it requires massive capital investments, both in the rail system and operators to get economies of scale, which causes problems with monopolistic pricing. Also the trucking industry has huge $$$ influence on politicians. On the plus side for rail, high speed automated container systems could significantly reduce delays, automate shunting yards, etc. The difference between automated docks like Rotterdam and the manual way trains are loaded is stark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxXZQ7emHC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxXZQ7emHC0 http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/35955-extreme-engineering-loading-container-train-video.htm http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/35955-extreme-engi... The use of driver-less trains is feasible, but the rail network (especially signalling) in America is so antiquated. Perhaps outsource it to the Netherlands... Automated rail container system fails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7I4wa1gpoc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7I4wa1gpoc