Uber self-driving trucks are now moving cargo for Uber Freight customers • Hacker News Board

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

#261

Post by icebraining » Wed, Mar 07, 2018, 11:46 AM UTC

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #260

icebraining wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you can skirt them. Time on-duty counts against their daily limit even if they're not driving (the example given in an official guide is a trucker taking a bus to get to the truck), so they must still get a proper rest afterwards. So Uber can't count the "not driving but watching the road" as time off.

They're not going to be on duty. They're going to be sleeping in the sleeper, on paper at least.

And how will they blame a crash on the driver, when the paper say s/he was sleeping?

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

#262

Post by salvar » Wed, Mar 07, 2018, 11:51 AM UTC

LethargicStud wrote: post #202

iak8god wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Upon choosing a career, you should consider the longevity of that career. Isn't it lucky we humans are so very good at predicting the future!? When I was taking computer vision courses little more than a decade ago, self driving cars were pure science fiction. Part of me hopes software development is the next job we automate away, just so everyone in forums like this who are so impressed with their own excellent li…

> Some people will still pick wrong for a multitude of reasons. Hopefully, those people can pivot. We are lucky as software engineers, but I was also making the point that if your line of work gets automated, hopefully you can pivot. This applies to everyone, and is similar to when you are no longer enjoying your field of work. Changing careers is not always an option, but let's not forget that it usually is when we…

So if your line of work gets automated, you retroactively "picked wrong"?

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

#263

Post by emodendroket » Wed, Mar 07, 2018, 2:13 PM UTC

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #258

marcosdumay wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Few people pay wages, many people collect them. But I don't think history will be useful, because depopulation also causes on increase in agricultural productivity (per person) that is a huge confounding variable.

Few people pay wages directly, everyone pays wages indirectly.

Let me answer your question with another question: looking at the world as it exists today, would you rather be a person of average means in a high-wage country, or a person of average means in a low-wage country?

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

#264

Post by nvahalik » Wed, Mar 07, 2018, 3:04 PM UTC

slfnflctd wrote: post #242

nopinsight wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming the actual work to care for an elderly with non-full-time need is up to 8 hours a day, paid at $12 per hour, the cost would be 8 * 365 * $12 = $35,040 per year. Other family members can hopefully cover the rest of hours if needed. My question: What are the benefits of going through an agency when the cost could be over 100% higher than hiring someone directly? Hiring direct allows you to screen in person and…

My gut response is, this could be ripe for Uber-like disruption. I had relatives who used home-care assistants and another who worked as one, and the discrepancy between cost and compensation seemed quite stark indeed.

It has been tried.

That was the whole point of HomeHero[0] which tried to do that model but was thwarted by legislation.

Again, I'm no expert but I've been spending a lot of time in this area lately and ultimately while it's nice to think about it's also tough:

1. Scheduling. Finding someone to come by once or twice a week to do some chores and housework is easy. But if someone needs 24x5, 24x7, or some weird incantation of it then only a single person scheduled just won't work.

2. Turnover. I'm not sure how it is in other places but turnover here is high. Sometimes you might not even get notice when someone quits. That's why a lot of people go with agencies—they take care of all of that hassle as well reporting. Also, when you have people with memory problems, there are special people needed to take care of them. People who don't mind being cursed at or belittled. Some people just can't handle it.

3. Legal issues. IIRC, California does stuff where if you work more than 8 hours in a day you can make overtime—even if that's the only day you work. Some of the laws and handling as well as reporting on this stuff make (especially if you do have some sort of insurance or coverage for long-term care)... well let's just say I'm glad I don't have to do any of that.

[0]: https://medium.com/@kaleazy/theres-no-magic-in-venture-backe...

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

#265

Post by tekknik » Wed, Mar 07, 2018, 3:35 PM UTC

p2t2p wrote: post #253

orthecreedence wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but that would be communism, so let's just let people who were born into or stumbled into their wealth amass more of it. I think in general we need to start being more thoughtful about how the things we do can sometimes be hurtful to billionaires.

Well, while you’re joking the original idea of communism and what I’ve been taught about Lenin was about excatly this - communism is inevitable because of technical progress. Call it what you want - universal income, handouts, we will end up in communism.

And yet all implementations of communism has failed so does this mean technical progress eventually leads to societal failure? Also I believe we will end up with socialism, not communism.

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

#266

Post by ZeroGravitas » Wed, Mar 07, 2018, 4:55 PM UTC

emodendroket wrote: post #263

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Few people pay wages directly, everyone pays wages indirectly.

Let me answer your question with another question: looking at the world as it exists today, would you rather be a person of average means in a high-wage country, or a person of average means in a low-wage country?

Are all the products I purchase produced within the high-wage country, or are many of them produced in the low-wage country? If so then I'm shielded from paying high-wages to a great degree and so get the best of both worlds.

Lots of people retire to (or work remotely from) low-wage countries (or regions) because their money will go further there.

Manufacturing keeps moving to the next poorer country as wages rise because people don't want to pay more for their t-shirts or other manufactured goods as countries industrialize.

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

#267

Post by emodendroket » Wed, Mar 07, 2018, 6:12 PM UTC

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #266

emodendroket wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me answer your question with another question: looking at the world as it exists today, would you rather be a person of average means in a high-wage country, or a person of average means in a low-wage country?

Are all the products I purchase produced within the high-wage country, or are many of them produced in the low-wage country? If so then I'm shielded from paying high-wages to a great degree and so get the best of both worlds. Lots of people retire to (or work remotely from) low-wage countries (or regions) because their money will go further there. Manufacturing keeps moving to the next poorer country as wages rise be…

That only goes so far. You can't offshore building your home, for instance.

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

#268

Post by astrodust » Wed, Mar 07, 2018, 6:44 PM UTC

kirykl wrote: post #210

astrodust wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It opens the door to some company buying up the roads, and then you're right back to where you started.

Private highways are already a thing

Snow Crash here we come.

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

#269

Post by jdmichal » Wed, Mar 07, 2018, 7:02 PM UTC

p2t2p wrote: post #254

antihero wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Despite being a coder, I almost desire tech work to become replaced by machines at some point, with the only options of retraining to be prohibitively hard and leaving us in the dreadful position of these workers, just so I can watch people with attitudes like this get it handed to them. The attitudes we have towards the unskilled, low-skilled, or those who are being replaced and made redundant by the systems we deve…

I don’t really understand you mate, what are you suggesting, stop technical progress? Sure it harsh and one day we will be next but so be it, it’s life.

I'm not sure where your confusion is arising from. antihero included a preferred alternative:

> Don't get me wrong, progress will happen, but we need to make it socially aware and compassionate progress, not tough luck you didn't pick a the right career and now your life is fucked progress.

That alternative is not stopping technical progress. It's providing for those whose jobs have been made obsolete by that progress, so that they can rebuild themselves. And keep in mind that not doing so carries the cost of having members of society who are unable to provide value beyond their physical existence.

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

#270

Post by bobthepanda » Wed, Mar 07, 2018, 9:08 PM UTC

Aloha wrote: post #208

bobthepanda wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main issue has actually been prioritization. In Europe the rails are fast and well-maintained, which is great for passenger operation but expensive for very heavy freight operations. Passenger operations are also prioritized very heavily at the expense of freight operations on the rail network. In comparison, the US rail network is slow and low quality, which makes freight operations extremely attractive but is a…

not build for high speed operation != low quality. High Speed Rail is just a different style of construction, etc - but quality is subjective.

American rails are decidedly low quality. [The accident record is much worse](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/world/europe/railroads-ar...), and the freight networks spent many years dismantling tracks and electrification to improve the bottom line.