41–50 of 248 posts
The Solution is the Train - that I don't understand why has not dominated in US, though it being a big industry in earlier part of the 20th Century
The Solution is the Train - that I don't understand why has not dominated in US, though it being a big industry in earlier part of the 20th Century
The cost of running rail to supply all the routes currently served by truck now (and generally in the last 50-60 years) is so high that it's infeasible. The less populated and poor the destination, the higher the costs (and most remote areas are both sparsely populated and poor). I think you're seriously underestimating the vastness of the US and the remoteness of the majority of it. Sure, given enough investment and…
The trucking industry... insists that it needs longer work weeks... so that more trucks will not be needed on the road, which it says could result in more accidents. That logic is laughable, but Congress seems to be buying it. Yeah that makes zero sense. If drivers are driving more, trucks will be on the road more. The actual result of sane work hours would be that more drivers would share trucks and drive in shifts,…
They are not buying it, but being bought.
Something semi-automated like speedlimit signs that radio out info which the truck receives and enforces seems possible.
Self-driving trucks seem to have such great promise to improve the safety and efficiency of the trucking industry and our highways in general. Even if they're only self-driving during the long haul sections and human drivers take over for local deliveries it would make a huge difference. Hopefully the various interested lobbies don't try to put too many artificial barriers in the way of self driving trucks becoming a…
I think that the trucking industry is one of the biggest employers in the US. Are you OK with devastating these people's lives for extra efficiency promised safety? Before we push for more automation and job losses, we need to revamp the whole political/economic/social system to ensure a more egalitarian income distribution since the vast majority of the Earth's population are proletariat who exchange their labor in…
In almost every case in history, automation has increased jobs and increased the quality of life.
Your post reminds me of this story: "Prof. Friedman visited China in the early 1960s and was taken by a government official to see a public works project. Chinese workers were building a canal. Friedman was struck by seeing everyone digging the canal with shovels. Friedman asked the official, "why no heavy earth-moving equipment?" The official said, "oh, this is a jobs program." So Friedman then says to the official, "then why don't you just give them spoons instead of shovels to create even more jobs?"
"Howard Abramson is a freelance writer who was an executive at American Trucking Associations from 1998 to 2014."
Gee, I wonder what's the backstory there?
Self-driving trucks seem to have such great promise to improve the safety and efficiency of the trucking industry and our highways in general. Even if they're only self-driving during the long haul sections and human drivers take over for local deliveries it would make a huge difference. Hopefully the various interested lobbies don't try to put too many artificial barriers in the way of self driving trucks becoming a…
I think that the trucking industry is one of the biggest employers in the US. Are you OK with devastating these people's lives for extra efficiency promised safety? Before we push for more automation and job losses, we need to revamp the whole political/economic/social system to ensure a more egalitarian income distribution since the vast majority of the Earth's population are proletariat who exchange their labor in…
There are lots of professions I would be saddened to see made obsolete by automation. Long haul truck driving would not be anywhere on that list.
Trucking is a very low margin business. These guys live and die based on controlling costs. It's an industry where innovation is very hard because you really need to justify every dollar spent on R&D.
Quoting $700B total industry revenue and saying there's room to spend on safety is meaningless... Would love to see a more in depth analysis on the issue from a financial perspective.
The Solution is the Train - that I don't understand why has not dominated in US, though it being a big industry in earlier part of the 20th Century
It might be unfair assume accidents involving trucks are necessarily due to truck drivers. I think self-driving trucks have many more benefits however other than possibly reducing accidents.
Over 90% of accidents are caused by human error. That doesn't mean it's necessarily the truck driver's fault, as there are other drivers on the road. But if it isn't his fault, it's the fault of another driver. Considering how long truck drivers drive for and in what conditions, I wouldn't be surprised if much of that 90% is actually attributed to the truck drivers themselves instead of other drivers.