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Algernon Moncrieff

(5,780 posts)
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 07:51 PM Apr 2016

The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automate millions of jobs

A convoy of self-driving trucks recently drove across Europe and arrived at the Port of Rotterdam. No technology will automate away more jobs — or drive more economic efficiency — than the driverless truck.

Shipping a full truckload from L.A. to New York costs around $4,500 today, with labor representing 75 percent of that cost. But those labor savings aren’t the only gains to be had from the adoption of driverless trucks.

Where drivers are restricted by law from driving more than 11 hours per day without taking an 8-hour break, a driverless truck can drive nearly 24 hours per day. That means the technology would effectively double the output of the U.S. transportation network at 25 percent of the cost.

And the savings become even more significant when you account for fuel efficiency gains. The optimal cruising speed from a fuel efficiency standpoint is around 45 miles per hour, whereas truckers who are paid by the mile drive much faster. Further fuel efficiencies will be had as the self-driving fleets adopt platooning technologies, like those from Peloton Technology, allowing trucks to draft behind one another in highway trains.


From Tech Crunch
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2naSalit

(86,031 posts)
1. Until the fourth or fifth
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 07:56 PM
Apr 2016

fatal accident results in millions lost in restitution.

I wish that instead of pampering an unsustainable system of consumerism and capitalism people with all that money would develop a better way to protect our biosphere while feeding the masses.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
3. or the 4th or 5th robbery.
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 08:08 PM
Apr 2016

Someone is gonna figure out how to stop a driverless car/truck easily.

What happens when there is a road flood-washout/rock slide/mud slide?

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
6. We must destroy the work force, unfettered capitalism demands it.
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 08:12 PM
Apr 2016

Although it won't happen by unmanned trucks and cars, that will never work logistically in a country like America.

 

Old Union Guy

(738 posts)
8. There is no "unfettered" capitalism, because the very rich don't want it.
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 08:34 PM
Apr 2016

The very rich of today are very much richer than the old "unfettered" robber barons of the past, because of massive government interference on their behalf.

This is why organized libertarianism is the realm of crackpots rather than "mainstream" business politics.

OK, some of very rich like the word libertarian, but they get goodies from the government all the same.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
9. True it is now predatory capitalism, the rich get eaten by the wealthy.
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 08:36 PM
Apr 2016

And the other 99% of us can end up homeless at any given missed house payment or hospital visit bill.

FrodosPet

(5,169 posts)
13. The difference is, humans were in control of both the buggy and the automobile
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 08:48 PM
Apr 2016

Auto-Autos are going to require a lot more trust from their users.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
4. There will be no future with flying cars or robot trucks.
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 08:10 PM
Apr 2016

Might be possible on a controlled, small scale. Never work in a country like America.

Ptah

(32,983 posts)
5. Self-Driving Cars Hit a Roadblock in the Snow
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 08:11 PM
Apr 2016
http://fortune.com/2016/02/10/self-driving-cars-snow/

Just as it can for a human, an overabundance of white flurries can inhibit a driverless car’s visibility. Autonomous cars use various types of sensors to read roads including radar, cameras, and lidar, which uses light to calculate surroundings. As Fortune previously reported, snow can cover up radar sensors and cameras, and render lidar technology useless.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027782193

Algernon Moncrieff

(5,780 posts)
7. I see that as an issue as well
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 08:14 PM
Apr 2016

One possible solution is self-overinflating tires that allow studs to pop out.

Mountain driving will also be a challenge initially.

FrodosPet

(5,169 posts)
10. It's not the traction, it is the visibility
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 08:43 PM
Apr 2016

Snow, rain, and fog cause massive drops in visibility. Humans can still intuitively figure out what something is in some pretty crappy conditions. OTOH, RADAR and LiDAR need some extreme filtering algorithms to cut through the overwhelming number of noise hits. Thinkaboutit...a snowflake is a lot brighter than asphalt.

Fumesucker

(45,851 posts)
15. The best human drivers are better than the machines are likely to be for some time
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 09:06 PM
Apr 2016

But driving is subject to a bell curve like most other things humans do, some of us are great at it, the majority of us are only of average competence and then there are those who just should never drive.

The machines on the other hand will be talking to each other and learning from each others mistakes and successes, they will improve rapidly and simultaneously.

Sensors too are progressing rapidly, people walking around with something in their pocket that makes a Star Trek communicator look pathetic really shouldn't make a lot of negative predictions about technology.

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