[NA]Driverless 18-wheelers

Automation is coming for all of us eventually. Makes no sense to employ humans to do a job less efficient and more expensive than AI. I predict a sharp rise in unemployment in the next 3-5 years followed by a universal basic income.

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Dockworkers join other unions in trying to fend off automation, or minimize the impact

The International Longshoremen’s Association, which represents the dock workers who walked off the job, is testing whether it’s possible to fight back.
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DaleB said:
Nothing new, half the cars I see around town are driverless. Oh, there's someone sitting behind the wheel, but they're not driving. They're too busy with Instagram or whatever.
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No sensors or software. Just driving with their knees. :eek:
 
Well at least you don’t have to worry about the driver falling asleep.
 
This is the lowest hanging fruit in terms of driving complexity. South West, little to no precip, no icing conditions, limited access highways, geofenced... The list goes on.
Stil impressive, but not the end as many say.

Tim
 
tspear said:
This is the lowest hanging fruit in terms of driving complexity. South West, little to no precip, no icing conditions, limited access highways, geofenced... The list goes on.
Stil impressive, but not the end as many say.

Tim
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No icing conditions, eh? DFW in 2021 would like to have a word with you about a 130-car pileup.

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Ubiquitous, fully autonomous is a LONG way off. Get a truck driving job today - you'll make it to retirement.
 
The advantage is that it looks in all directions at once and never gets distracted.
 
tspear said:
The exception that proves the rule :D

You had to go back four years to find that one. I had to go back a couple weeks.
Which one do you think is more of an issue?

Tim
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Was just pointing out that DFW is not immune to road icing conditions. They get them once or twice a year it seems, but the 2021 incident was particularly bad. Downside of living far enough North to get freezing temps, but not far enough that precipitation falls as snow rather than freezing rain.
 
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The thing about storms in Texas is we get plenty of notice. Often, 3 days. So they could decline to dispatch on those few occasions. (Not to defend automated driving).
Most drivers in Texas who are ‘caught’ in a storm, or have a weather-related issue chose to drive despite the warnings.
 
With driverless transports, I have concerns for things that the drivers are doing that they might not be able to, like - i dunno; checking the’feel’ of a strap’s tightness; the smell or look of a failing tire; handling unusual traffic or roadway situations (can they respond appropriately to a flagman, a child on the road, can they see every bicyclist; will they make the correct path for an emergency vehicle?)
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
The thing about storms in Texas is we get plenty of notice. Often, 3 days. So they could decline to dispatch on those few occasions. (Not to defend automated driving).
Most drivers in Texas who are ‘caught’ in a storm, or have a weather-related issue chose to drive despite the warnings.
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Absolutely. There are definitely solutions to the problem. Same kind of thing with the haboobs/dust storms that West Texas gets a few times per year which result in pile-ups on I-20 out near Midland-Odessa.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
With driverless transports, I have concerns for things that the drivers are doing that they might not be able to, like - i dunno; checking the’feel’ of a strap’s tightness; the smell or look of a failing tire; handling unusual traffic or roadway situations (can they respond appropriately to a flagman, a child on the road, can they see every bicyclist; will they make the correct path for an emergency vehicle?)
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I think it was this company in the OP article, but not positive. The trucks are driverless from specific "rally" locations at each city right next to the highway.
So the trucks are driven by a driver from the cargo pickup point to the "rally" point next to the highway. At which point the driver does a final inspection, the truck is released to drive to the "rally" point next to the highway at the next city.
The result is for the multi hour drive between the cities on the highway, there is no driver.

However, there is a local driver for each city that handles the loading/unloading, inspections....

Tim
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
With driverless transports, I have concerns for things that the drivers are doing that they might not be able to, like - i dunno; checking the’feel’ of a strap’s tightness; the smell or look of a failing tire; handling unusual traffic or roadway situations (can they respond appropriately to a flagman, a child on the road, can they see every bicyclist; will they make the correct path for an emergency vehicle?)
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The vast majority of todays truck drivers are not capable or not willing to 1/2 the things on that list. Keeping it upright and pointed in the right direction is where it starts and stops unfortunately. I was born and raised in this industry and can't imagine doing anything different, but the level of professionalism just isn't there anymore.
 
tspear said:
I think it was this company in the OP article, but not positive. The trucks are driverless from specific "rally" locations at each city right next to the highway.
So the trucks are driven by a driver from the cargo pickup point to the "rally" point next to the highway. At which point the driver does a final inspection, the truck is released to drive to the "rally" point next to the highway at the next city.
The result is for the multi hour drive between the cities on the highway, there is no driver.

However, there is a local driver for each city that handles the loading/unloading, inspections....

Tim
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So kinda like a less efficient version of a train…
 
Lindberg said:
How many 18 wheelers were involved in that? Would the number be higher or lower with these trucks on the road?
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Several. The video carnage was pretty startling as the semis plowed through already-wrecked cars. Not sure how an autonomous truck handles black ice and a pile of vehicles it can't avoid. Around 0:24 seconds in it gets interesting, by the 1-minute mark you see semis plowing through at highways speeds.

 
SoonerAviator said:
Several. The video carnage was pretty startling as the semis plowed through already-wrecked cars. Not sure how an autonomous truck handles black ice and a pile of vehicles it can't avoid. Around 0:24 seconds in it gets interesting, by the 1-minute mark you see semis plowing through at highways speeds.

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Just a question because I don't know, but would one of these driverless trucks be driving at highway speeds in a blizard? Or is that something that only humans would do?
 
SoonerAviator said:
Several. The video carnage was pretty startling as the semis plowed through already-wrecked cars. Not sure how an autonomous truck handles black ice and a pile of vehicles it can't avoid.
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Any reason the autonomous truck can't be getting traffic information from further down the road and gradually come to a stop before it gets to the black ice and the pile up?
 
SoonerAviator said:
Several. The video carnage was pretty startling as the semis plowed through already-wrecked cars. Not sure how an autonomous truck handles black ice and a pile of vehicles it can't avoid. Around 0:24 seconds in it gets interesting, by the 1-minute mark you see semis plowing through at highways speeds.

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Seems like robots couldn't have done worse.
 
Velocity173 said:
Automation is coming for all of us eventually. Makes no sense to employ humans to do a job less efficient and more expensive than AI. I predict a sharp rise in unemployment in the next 3-5 years followed by a universal basic income.

apnews.com

Dockworkers join other unions in trying to fend off automation, or minimize the impact

The International Longshoremen’s Association, which represents the dock workers who walked off the job, is testing whether it’s possible to fight back.
apnews.com apnews.com
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Universal basic income will be the end of society.
 
Flatiowa said:
So kinda like a less efficient version of a train…
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Yes and no. Trucks are easier to reroute and use a shared infrastructure.
Trains can carry a lot more, but are a lot less flexible, and currently due to how they operate (at least according to train engineers) cannot be automated.

Tim
 
172andyou said:
Any reason the autonomous truck can't be getting traffic information from further down the road and gradually come to a stop before it gets to the black ice and the pile up?
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It could if the data were coming in far enough in advance. However, getting enough data to decipher it is going to likely take at least a minute with lag and time for AI to realize there's a pileup. I doubt that's going to help the first dozen semi trucks.
 
SoonerAviator said:
It could if the data were coming in far enough in advance. However, getting enough data to decipher it is going to likely take at least a minute with lag and time for AI to realize there's a pileup. I doubt that's going to help the first dozen semi trucks.
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and, of course, being able to validate the data (and protect it from hacking and corruption)
 
Lindberg said:
They only need to do as well as humans.
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While it does seem like a low bar to set, I'd bet most truck drivers can spot taillights further in the distance and recognize a developing catastrophe more quickly than AI with some cameras and sensors. There just a limitation with available data. Start having autos and trucks sharing live data via ADS-B type broadcasts and then you might have something useful eventually.
 
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