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

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

#21

Post by d0mine »

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…

Can the history teach us anything here? What had happened when the technology called "China" became available? How did it affect jobs elimination?

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

#22

Post by Shivetya »

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…

anecdotal, but each summer I spend time at a hotel in the Austintown/Youngstown area which is a drop off point for newly "graduated" students from a trucking school.

the old timers are there too and some are there to pick up their partner as many long distance services have two drivers per cab. the old timers are a great source of information and if anything stands out its how many new drivers don't cut it. most leave on their own but others are pushed out for not being good drivers. good means not only a safe driver but properly courteous to everyone you meet.

quite a few get into it on the storied romance aspect of it, those stories that convey that there is something special in it, one with the road, etc. others because they don't understand the complexity of the job. it is not just driving.

so I am really curious how much work moves to dock yards and better yet, what processes are being put in place to handle all the interaction with local enforcement agencies because truth be told there are parts of this country where the locals stop trucks fishing for something to ticket and generate revenue on. how will self driving, no one aboard, eventually be handled?

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

#23

Post by bdamm »

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)

I'd expect they'll make potholes much worse, with all trucks driving exactly over the same spot repeatedly, until they learn to avoid the pothole. Perhaps Waze-style reporting will fill the gap.

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

#24

Post by username223 »

gaadd33 wrote: post #16
username223 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You're right -- it's better than I thought, though it's still in the middle of the pack when measured by track per person or track per area:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_rail_tran...

I guess I'm biased by seeing all the abandoned rail, since it's well down from its peak.

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

#25

Post by gerad »

zitterbewegung wrote: post #19
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 (autom…

The rate of change matters far more than the amount of it.

https://ourworldindata.org/employment-in-agriculture

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

#27

Post by knz »

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…

Is the issue a lack of jobs or a lack of jobs that pay enough to prosper in our society?

BLS has the mean annual income for a truck driver at $43,000 (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes533032.htm) versus ~ $22,000 for a personal care assistant (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/home-health-aides-and-per...).

That's a huge difference, especially in a country with the health care system we have.

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

#28

Post by allannienhuis »

bdamm wrote: post #23
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)

I'd expect they'll make potholes much worse, with all trucks driving exactly over the same spot repeatedly, until they learn to avoid the pothole. Perhaps Waze-style reporting will fill the gap.

Don't you think they'd be able to take that into account with the software? Large trucks already put a huge amount of wear like that on highways (I've seen plenty of ruts from trucks in asphalt roads). Technology like this is an opportunity to actually improve the wear patterns.

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

#29

Post by hapless »

djsumdog wrote: post #15
hapless wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

The U.S. used to have extensive short-haul rail, even inside cities. That's how cargo moved around back in the era before inexpensive motorized trucks.

I suspect the reason it disappeared is that rail sidings are large and expensive compared to truck loading docks. You're not going to have ten sidings on a property as easily as you stick ten bays in a loading dock.

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

#30

Post by mtgx »

julbaxter wrote: post #26
bluetwo wrote: post #20

I feel like they re-invented the train. :-)

Without the rails.

Will Uber pay a bigger portion of the road repair taxes? Especially considering truckers already pay a disproportionately lower tax compared to the impact they have on the roads.
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