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

Post by ghaff » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 6:04 PM UTC

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #76

bluetwo wrote: post #20

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

When trains become competitive with road transport, maybe we should move more to using trains. Until then, we won't, and we shouldn't. (If it's a matter of externalities/hidden subsidies, then the costs of these externalities must be brought to the entity causing them, e.g. via taxes.) I don't know why (in Germany) a long-distance bus is much cheaper than a train (from/to the same city), but it is. We shouldn't be tr…

Post by superfrank » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 6:09 PM UTC

gaius wrote: post #77

djrogers wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Truckers generally get paid per mile, not per hour. They are also heavily regulated as to the number of hours they can drive (why you see so many husband/wife driving teams). One can easily foresee a future where a self-driving truck has a driver in it who is only driving 'regulated' hours for a small portion of a trip (say during high traffic, highway entry/exit, etc). The driver could spend the rest of his time sle…

rest of his time sleeping, reading, or coding Problematic in at least two ways, probably three.

Post by nvahalik » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 6:12 PM UTC

knz wrote: post #27

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.

Post by eeZah7Ux » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 6:14 PM UTC

knieveltech wrote: post #59

sol_remmy wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely. Automated trucks will allow shipping costs to be much cheaper which will stimulate the economy in 1000 different ways

"Stimulate the economy" and "provide prosperity" correlate only very weakly, if at all.

Post by rhizome » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 6:17 PM UTC

superfrank wrote: post #83

gaius wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

rest of his time sleeping, reading, or coding Problematic in at least two ways, probably three.

Even if (and that's a very big if) we get to a point where we decide we need someone behind the wheel of these truck, but it's okay for them to be staring at a laptop the entire time, I can't see a whole lot of quality code coming from someone who is sitting in the cabin of a truck with one eye constantly on the road.