Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Uber self-driving trucks are now moving cargo for Uber Freight customers

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 278 posts

Re: Uber self-driving trucks are now moving cargo for Uber Freight customers

#11

Post by nixgeek »

nickpeterson wrote: post #5

I think these companies (autonomous car/truck) understand that they need to transition these processes slowly over time. I feel like it's better to start with something only moderately different and iterate than try to completely reinvent the entire structure of such a large industry. First they do this, then they automate more and more portions, at each step reducing the amount of manual, human supervision. It also…

This is a woefully optimistic viewpoint: when the technology is ready there will be layoffs. IMO.

These companies aren’t slow-playing their hand to avoid layoffs, and it’s a race to see who can perfect the technology first.

Re: Uber self-driving trucks are now moving cargo for Uber Freight customers

#12

Post by ada1981 »

ryannevius wrote: post #2

I don't mean to be a downer...but is there really anything novel here? I understand that this is a first step, but I feel like Uber could have significantly reduced the manual labor required (e.g. to disconnect/connect a trailer). It seems that the load (mental/physical) on the "driver" of the self-driving semi will be nearly equal to a driver who has cruise control.

My guess is the point of this video is to paint a picture of AI as really pretty boring and nothing that much different for the driver.

This is a tactic to avoid pushback from the public / truck drivers.

This is an attempt to control the narrative on what autonomous shipping is going to look like.

Re: Uber self-driving trucks are now moving cargo for Uber Freight customers

#13

Post by birdman3131 »

ryannevius wrote: post #2

I don't mean to be a downer...but is there really anything novel here? I understand that this is a first step, but I feel like Uber could have significantly reduced the manual labor required (e.g. to disconnect/connect a trailer). It seems that the load (mental/physical) on the "driver" of the self-driving semi will be nearly equal to a driver who has cruise control.

I am not sure how much of that equipment is legislated. The air fittings for example are of a type I have never really seen elsewhere. They have been standard in the trucking industry as long as I have known (Oldest truck I have been around was from the 70's)

While you could develop a way to robotically latch those it seems like it would be easier to redesign the fitting.

Re: Uber self-driving trucks are now moving cargo for Uber Freight customers

#14

Post by vmateixeira »

I would be interested to know how would these autonomous cars/trucks behave on non-linear roads, with potholes, adverse conditions, etc

What kind of problem are these companies trying to address that hasn't been addressed yet?

Will these trucks be a replacement for trains? I can see the later ones being way more easy to automate (e.g. London Overground)

Re: Uber self-driving trucks are now moving cargo for Uber Freight customers

#15

Post by djsumdog »

hapless wrote: post #9
mav3r1ck wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re right it’s not that novel. Volvo has self-driving* truck convoys going back to the 90s I think. I think for long-haul trucking it’s certainly pretty hard to stay fully tuned while driving for such long times. And for truck companies, they can save tons of money on labor when they don’t have to pay the driver for the hours on the road and just for the manual disconnect/connect docking. Maybe they can make it fu…

Truck companies avoid this kind of thing because it's expensive to maintain pools of short-haul drivers at either end of the transport link. If you are willing to assume those costs/risks, you can already send freight by rail, which is an order of magnitude more efficient on fuel, and sometimes even a little faster. The reason you pay for long-haul trucking is that you want to have the driver _already on hand_ for th…

The US already has one of the largest freight rail networks in the world (at the expense of having a totally shitty passenger rail network; although that's starting to change with Florida and California's efforts).

I wish more effort would be put into expanding freight even more so you could get the same speed and efficiency for shorter hauls, mail and package delivery. It seems like that would be way more worthwhile than automated trucks. It's substantially more trivial to automate freight trains as well. Passenger trains in Singapore, Malaysia and parts of London are already fully autonomous with no driver at all.

Re: Uber self-driving trucks are now moving cargo for Uber Freight customers

#16

Post by gaadd33 »

username223 wrote: post #7
mav3r1ck wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re right it’s not that novel. Volvo has self-driving* truck convoys going back to the 90s I think. I think for long-haul trucking it’s certainly pretty hard to stay fully tuned while driving for such long times. And for truck companies, they can save tons of money on labor when they don’t have to pay the driver for the hours on the road and just for the manual disconnect/connect docking. Maybe they can make it fu…

It seems like truck convoys are a less efficient reinvention of trains. I'm still surprised they didn't take off in the States, though, since our rail infrastructure is pathetic. Maybe it only works now because Uber can burn $1B a quarter.

Why do you think our rail infrastructure is pathetic? It's the largest freight rail networks in the world.

It sucks for passengers but that's not relevant to this discussion.

Re: Uber self-driving trucks are now moving cargo for Uber Freight customers

#17

Post by rmattes »

roryisok wrote: post #6
mav3r1ck wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re right it’s not that novel. Volvo has self-driving* truck convoys going back to the 90s I think. I think for long-haul trucking it’s certainly pretty hard to stay fully tuned while driving for such long times. And for truck companies, they can save tons of money on labor when they don’t have to pay the driver for the hours on the road and just for the manual disconnect/connect docking. Maybe they can make it fu…

Since the 90s ?? That's very impressive if true. I remember reading about a proposition to do this for cars years ago, before any talk of self driving vehicles. A car would lock in behind a professional driver vehicle such as a truck or bus and match the turning and braking. I didn't think the tech existed though

The 90s wasn't exactly the stone age, there was plenty of self-driving vehicle work taking place. For example:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-national-automate...

Re: Uber self-driving trucks are now moving cargo for Uber Freight customers

#18

Post by matt_wulfeck »

vmateixeira wrote: post #14

I would be interested to know how would these autonomous cars/trucks behave on non-linear roads, with potholes, adverse conditions, etc What kind of problem are these companies trying to address that hasn't been addressed yet? Will these trucks be a replacement for trains? I can see the later ones being way more easy to automate (e.g. London Overground)

That’s probably why Arizona is the test bed right now. Predictable weather patterns, long stretches of flat, open roads, low traffic, and legislative openness. optimizing 80/20

Re: Uber self-driving trucks are now moving cargo for Uber Freight customers

#19

Post by zitterbewegung »

nopinsight wrote: post #8

For those concerned with jobs to be eliminated, it might not be as big a problem as we think for the trucking industry. "Over the next 10 years, he said, we need to attract almost 900,000 new people to the industry. Demographics is a big part of the problem. ATA’s research arm, the American Transportation Research Institute, recently updated its demographic data on drivers and found some 57% of drivers are 45 or olde…

Yea, every industry makes this claim and it either means that no one wants to do the job because it is harmful or doesn't pay well enough. I don't think it is a good counter argument to the automation of one of the largest industries that employ people in the United States. Even if you take the claim that it won't impact jobs you have to look at other people in the ecosystem and how their jobs will be impacted (automated trucks don't need to eat or sleep and that means those truck stops will stop existing).
Post reply on HN