Volvo debuts its fully autonomous big rig truck powered by Aurora’s tech

Some believe autonomous trucks are the answer to a shortage of truck drivers.

See full article...

 

[Dumdums]

Trucking firms would gladly pay $200-300K for autonomous systems because they will recoup that investment in under 4 years because they don't have to pay human.

 

[Dumdums]

If driverless trucks become a reality it will completely destroy the long haul trucking industry. I would predict a couple of companies will setup hubs at the correct distance for these trucks to drive from hub A to B, drop the trailer and stop for recharge, while a second truck picks up the trailer and heads on to hub C. No downtime for sleeping, no driver to pay, etc. The companies that can't do this will quickly fold or move into specialty areas.

Short haul truckers are probably safe, but they typically don't get paid well. Specialty will probably be safe as well, wide loads, trailer home deliveries etc.

A colleague shared a story of a trucking firm in Spain had terminals that were six hours apart. Instead of having drivers work 12 hour days or sleeping overnight they arranged for trucks to meet at the half way point and drivers would swap vehicles and return to their home terminal every day.
No exhausted drivers on the road and they get to spend quality time at home. So clever.
Yes, this would be more difficult to coordinate for long haul truckers but the industry needs to think outside the box to improve safety for all road users and quality of life for drivers.

 

[Dumdums]

What if we put these autonomous trucks on rails? And then used a single cab to pull a long line of trailers? And had a small crew in each cab to oversee operation?

I totally agree, however the owners of those autonomous trucks on rails firms would push to eliminate all but one operator per convoy.
Hard-core capitalists are a-holes and ruin everything.