Autonomous Trucks

Self-driving trucks are a future technology expected to be commercially available in 5-10 years.  Multiple companies are now road testing self-driving vehicles on the road.  Among the trucking companies at play in this space include Volvo, Daimler, and Peterbilt who are all working on their own versions of the technology.  Otto is one of the non-trucking companies who entered the space in early 2016.  Video cameras, radars, lasers, accelerometers, and a bread-box sized micro-supercomputer are some of the items found in the new toolbox of autonomous trucks.

While autonomous cars tend to get most of the headlines, it’s widely accepted that self-driving trucks may be the first commercially available autonomous vehicle because of economics.  A couple of efficiencies that have trucking companies excited about the technology include: coordination of movements between trucks to cut down on wind-drag and save on fuel; letting a truck drive 24 hours a day, allowing the driver to sleep at normal increments.

In the end, consumer sentiment and political will might be the driving force to whether this technology comes to market.  From a consumer sentiment perspective, will computers and sensors be able to match the awareness of a skilled and certified truck driver?  On the political side, will the middle class who relies on 1.7M trucking jobs be open to these potential blue collar job-killing technologies?

Comments

  1. Robin LanphierApril 13, 2017 at 6:12 PM

    I actually have a friend in the business and this is already happening at her company. I have to admit, this also frightens me. She assured me that it is much more dangerous for drivers to be on the road because they are known to get tired. I understand that the trucking industry finds this type of technology attractive because it will increase their profitability, but I have to ask at what cost?

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