3.5 million truck driving jobs just put on the clock

[swake]

Freightliner reveals street legal automated truck. For now a person is required to monitor the truck, but this is the end quickly approaching for millions of jobs.


http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/freightliner-just-revealed-the-first-real-road-legal-au-1702382986/+AnnaleeNewitz

[heironymouspasparagus]

That has effectively been available for about 175 years.  It's a train....

Just exactly what we need....   Blech!!

[swake]

That has effectively been available for about 175 years.  It's a train....

Just exactly what we need....   Blech!!

In less than five years you will see fully automated electric trucks with solar panels on the roof and tesla batteries, no driver, no fuel, no emissions. Cheaper to run and can go 24 hours a day, every day. 

[heironymouspasparagus]

In less than five years you will see fully automated electric trucks with solar panels on the roof and tesla batteries, no driver, no fuel, no emissions. Cheaper to run and can go 24 hours a day, every day.  

Guess I'll have to stay off the highways at that point.  I sure wouldn't trust the electronics for that application.  It will fail.  At the worst possible time.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

So who will stop and put the chains on these things when they drive through the mountain passes in the winter?

[heironymouspasparagus]

So who will stop and put the chains on these things when they drive through the mountain passes in the winter?

They are autonomous...they can do it themselves...

[AquaMan]

I doubt the infrastructure will ha e improved enough in five years to allow widespread usage. But short dedicated routes possible.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I doubt the infrastructure will ha e improved enough in five years to allow widespread usage. But short dedicated routes possible.

Which would lead to the acquisition/construction of "private" highways/right of ways.  At which point, we are back to trains.  Only 400 times less cost effective.


This is a very cool electronics project that I would love to work on - am skeptical it could ever overcome the risk perceptions.  Yeah, I know....probably better than a "speed-freak" trying to make up 1600 miles at 85 mph after sitting in the casino for two days...  (Cocaine, amphetamines, and caffeine will always overcome the wasting of time in a casino!)

[dbacksfan 2.0]

First time one hits black ice and wipes out a family in a mini van it's all over.

[AquaMan]

Lots of variables and problems to solve. The fleet where I work is part diesel, part cng fuels.  Some old reliable diesels and some new high tech computerized diesels. The CNg and computerized diesels have the most down time. They require specific training by mechanics. The manufacturers are under pressure to cheapen the vehicle cost and they do that by reducing staff, increasing work load and cheapening components. Nasty combination.

Then there's the whole lane changing thing.

[Ed W]

Commercial aircraft are pretty much autonomous already but the FAA's pesky regulations insist on having two humans on the flight deck as backups. Consider how much money could be saved by eliminating those regulations and the superfluous jobs. Sure, an occasional aircraft would go down in the Hudson but that's negligible in a cost/benefit analysis. I'm sure Sen Infofe would be on board for this one since he'd obviously benefit from such automation.

[AquaMan]

Can we still tailgate these autonomous vehicles and cut in front of them or will they pack up together like wagon trains and disable our map software?

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Can we still tailgate these autonomous vehicles and cut in front of them or will they pack up together like wagon trains and disable our map software?

You won't be able to cut in front of them, they'll just be a giant conga line that will stretch the 300 miles from Redding CA to Eugene OR through all the mountain passes, and then another continuous line all the way to Vancouver BC. All running at less than 30mph on I-5.

[Breadburner]

How are the Lot Lizards at the truck stops going to make a living......More than just the wheel holders jobs are on the line.....!!!!!

[cannon_fodder]

Something new, same fears:

When steamships began running up rivers, the barges towed along canals by mule teams protested loudly that they were unsafe and that it would cost too many jobs. Powered Barges are the norm and the canals are now recreational areas.

When the first oil pipeline came online in Pennsylvania the locals cried "danger" and the teamsters feared losing their jobs, they actually blew the pipeline up a couple of times. Now it is taken for granted that pipeline is the most efficient and safest way to transport oil. Teamsters found other ways to make a living.

When elevators were first automated they were decried as unsafe and job killers: without a person on board to safely stop the elevator at the proper place, disaster would ensue!  And thousands of elevator operators would be out of jobs (still required in some countries).

When trains switched to automatic brakes the railroad unions complained that it would be unsafe and cost tons of jobs for brakemen. It is now taken for granted that automated brakes are far, far safer and trains are more efficient with smaller crews.

When service stations switched from full service only to self service (still required in some states)...

When people were allowed to dial phone numbers for themselves instead of through an operators switch...

When airlines went from fully manual controls to partially automated to fly by wire...

When auto nav was put on ocean going vessels...

Hell, people made the same arguments against all sorts of mechanization.  There will be a transition period (automated trucks for point to point over the road, then to local delivery stations, etc.), and then many, many trucking jobs probably will fade away. Drastically increasing safety and efficiency. There will probably be set backs along the way (safety mishaps, labor disputes, politics), but ultimate, the Luddites will lose and the progress will march on.