World's First Self-driving Truck

When the truck can start "autonomously" delivering the boxes at each stop then I'll start to worry.

http://youtu.be/OEmezNJQCOk

Start worrying.

/end humor

Never happen. The main reason being, it's still under control of a computer system. The first time that system goes down, you now have an 80,000 # missile at 65mph with nobody in control.

Self driving cars will be here sooner rather then later. Uber is already leading the charge for self driving vehicles very aggressively. They hate having to deal with their drivers (I'm an Uber driver) and by deal with I mean pay. Their goal is to make it cheaper and easier to use an Uber to get around then owning a car. In many places it already is. Now make that an electric autonomous vehicle and things start to get really interesting. They want it to be cheaper to use an Uber then it is to ride the bus. And they have over $40bn worth of backing to get them there. Google is doing it. Apple is doing it. All the major car makers are investing in autonomous vehicles. They will work without everyone being on the same system-no doubt about it. I heard on the radio yesterday that the explosion of drones is forcing governments to look at legislation around not only drones but also autonomous vehicles. CA, FL and TX already have some legislation on the books. It's coming. The logistics of self driving trucks are far more involved then a car of course. But I'm sure every single trucking company out there would love to be able to operate without drivers.

Never happen. The main reason being, it's still under control of a computer system. The first time that system goes down, you now have an 80,000 # missile at 65mph with nobody in control.

Or it misses basic traffic controls... like lane markings...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atq645S-bWQ&feature=youtu.be&t=46

Drones? Thats all you got? today my company we sent out six delivery runs. My truck has only about 700 boxes on board going directly to our own stores. You can't make me believe that drones are a serious answer to companies like mine or ANY food and beverage distributor. Sure drones for individual home packages would probably work but that tech is so far away from being a logistics solution I'm certainly not worried for my generation.

I only mentioned drones because they are semi-autonomous flying machines that are forcing legislation. Not that they might be related to trucking at all. :)

Wow-This story made it onto our local news tonight (Driverless trucks)

Wow-This story made it onto our local news tonight (Driverless trucks)

It was a national story. They talked about it on CNBC yesterday too.

You can't make me believe that drones are a serious answer to companies like mine or ANY food and beverage distributor

Certainly not at the moment but eventually drones might allow people to order items directly from the manufacturer and skip the entire warehousing/trucking thing altogether. It certainly won't happen quickly though.

When the truck can start "autonomously" delivering the boxes at each stop then I'll start to worry.

Drones.

I think self-driving trucks might someday work in dedicated lanes on the Interstate or in some limited capacity. But as far as making the delivery that last mile to the customer I think drones are going to play a large roll in that. Obviously that's going to affect UPS, FedEx, and possibly even LTL carriers before it affects the truckload carriers but one never knows what the future may hold.

Drones have issues too. In the most tightly controlled airspace in the world, Afghanistan 6 years ago, late one night a contractor flown airplane was returning from a mission when it had a midair collision with an unlighted drone. Three of my friends were delivered to their families in bags. Whats gonna happen not if but when a drone goes through the windshield of a 787 or an A380 landing or taking off somewhere in the USA? I'm with Heavy C all the way on this one.

Whats gonna happen not if but when a drone goes through the windshield of a 787 or an A380 landing or taking off somewhere in the USA?

Indeed I see your point. You're right. It will never happen. We'll just stick with trucks because everyone knows they're safer......