The future of trucking

[Wollfen]

I would never have imagined even a year ago that I would see self driving trucks, and well, they are already here. Nevada is the first state, i wonder what we will see in another year at this rate?

http://interestingengineering.com/f...the-first-self-driving-truck-to-hit-the-road/

 

[LocuMob]

That's a cool looking truck, but I don't think I'd feel right driving next to a truck with no one behind the wheel.

 

[live4theking]

Ever have your computer freeze up. I'm not a fan of this at all. They say a gun legally carrying a gun is dangerous. How many people can an 80k pound truck kill when the computer freezes... I don't even want to think about it.

 

[amazinblue82]

Wow..that IS a cool looking truck...but Im with LocuMob and still want a human a** in the driver seat of a vehicle of this size/weight/speed.

 

[commando1]

Now Swift et al can finally do what they've been striving for.
They can now actually put a trained Chimpanzee in the seat.
They'll be paid bananas by the mile...

 

[LocuMob]

I saw on Top Gear where James went up against the US army automated 6x6, it's is pretty amazing technology, just don't trust it.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

There will come a time when that computer has to make a decision to run over you or a empty school bus, wouldn't you rather have a human make that call.
I had a a..hole in a white Suzuki car pull right out of the Pa. Dot garage outside the fort pitt tunnel I376 in Pittsburgh 40,000++# coil belly loaded no way to stop, and they were going to get hit if I did not move over, problem was a silver Audi in the hammer lane. Luckily he saw what just happened and moved onto the left shoulder as I made the desicion to hit him and not kill the driver of the Suzuki. Amazingly no contact I waved at the guy in the Audi to thank him as he went by after moving back into the right lane. I don't think the Suzuki driver even knows how close they were to death or serious injury. I'm not saying I made the right decision, but the Audi driver just had that look of disbelief and that flipped my switch to move left and he reacted to it well.
This whole event was maybe 3-5 seconds, forever in computer time but it does not see the human side a real truck driver not a seat warmer has to.

 

[commando1]

My gawd !!! A driver in a car had the foresite to seeing an impending disaster, and having the foresight to yield to a truck that would have to make a do or die maneuver.

Nah... I don't believe you.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

It the only time in 27 years I have had to make that desicion of which car to hit and his paying attention saved me a lot of trouble and paperwork. If I had a way to do it I would send him a nice gift or dinner for him and wife, whatever on me.

 

[Patrick]

But can they back up into a loading bay? I see a need for expert pilots, like with ocean freighters, to handle the last mile. Might be a nice job, really, have to be able to handle a variety of trucks so expertise is needed. Could pay well.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Now Swift et al can finally do what they've been striving for.
They can now actually put a trained Chimpanzee in the seat.
They'll be paid bananas by the mile...

You are right about this. PETA gets on their *** then the chimps will have better representation the current drivers.

 

[amazinblue82]

hey, just camera angle, or this driverless "wunder-lastwagen" (sorry my German friends...I have been off the continent for two decades now and am forgetting the languages) already straddling the centerline? :icon_wink:

seriously, stories shared above are why I believe if I live to be 90 years old, this technology wont be ready for the real world.

 

[furyus 67]

I will never understand why we put so much into something with such a weak structure. How easy would truck hijacking be with no one driving? The more we push into this electronic system the more problems we have. Identity theft, hackers stealing millions without leaving their couch. But ooh run right out and get another credit card. No thanks!

 

[Wollfen]

It is interesting to note that the aviation industry uses "Autoland" on their aircraft right now. It lands the aircraft for the pilot using a computer when the conditions are too dangerous for the pilot to handle.
In combat aircraft they need multiple computers just to keep fighters in the air. A pilot can no longer handle all the parameters himself. Without the computers, the fighter would crash.
Computers are more reliable and more accurate. Do they break? Sure, but don't make mistakes like we do and so the average is in the computers favor. All cars today run on computers as it is now. And unlike our laptops they don't shut down and reboot on a regular basis, actually I cant think of a time whenever I have driven a 1988 or newer car with computer management systems has shut down all of a sudden. It does happen, nothing man made is perfect, computer or no computer.
It's coming and we cant stop it.
The vehicles of the future will be simply more sophisticated modes of public transport we have now. You step in, tell the vehicle where you wish to go and it will whisk you away to your destination.
I am sure that in the future they will pass laws that will prohibit you from manually driving a vehicle ever again. That will be a sad day indeed and the future generations won't even know what they are missing out on.
Our generation is seeing the last of the self determining, mobile living version on the human race. I have no idea what it will look like.

 

[furyus 67]

Rise of the machines! Pretty soon flesh and blood will be obsolete! The vehicles of the future will be appliances!

 

[commando1]

The future ??
No more automobiles. Legislated away to join the buggy.
When we need to go from Pt. A to Pt. B in the future, a self contained, autonomous, transport pod designed by bureaucrats influenced by vested interest lobby groups and manufactured in Africa.

By the way, Africa is now being explored as source of labor cheaper than China or India in the future. China and India will themselves be buying cheap African imports.

 

[furyus 67]

Not to mention the farming industry. They have been computer controlled GPS driven for some time. They do a great job and I've never heard of any of them going haywire but none the less. My generation is probly the last that knew of a time without computer controlled anything! I don't completely understand why we constantly try to eliminate the human element from our industries that are human/consumer driven. What happens when we don't have to get off the couch to do anything? We simply just exist because some machine is doing everything we used to? You think obesity is an issue now!

 

[Wollfen]

The future ?

By the way, Africa is now being explored as source of labor cheaper than China or India in the future. China and India will themselves be buying cheap African imports.

Whats interesting to note on this is Vietnam is already being used for manufacturing in some industries because their labor costs are far cheaper. "Made in Vietnam" will be a common sticker soon.

 

[Wollfen]

Not to mention the farming industry. They have been computer controlled GPS driven for some time. They do a great job and I've never heard of any of them going haywire but none the less. My generation is probly the last the knew of a time without computer controlled anything! I don't completely understand why we constantly try to eliminate the human element from our industries that are human/consumer driven. What happens when we don't have to get off the couch to do anything? We simply just exist because some machine is doing everything we used to? You think obesity is an issue now!

Well no one will need to work, you will be issued a certain amount of credits per month to live off and that's it. What will control the size of such a population will be the amount of sustainable resources. Utopia? I don't think so, but then again, isn't the concept of Heaven really like this? No more work, do what you want. Nothing to worry about, everything's taken care of for you.

 

[commando1]

Whats interesting to note on this is Vietnam is already being used for manufacturing in some industries because their labor costs are far cheaper. "Made in Vietnam" will be a common sticker soon.

Damn. A 50" TV is gonna cost only $88.98.