This Year, Autonomous Trucks Will Take to the Road with No One on Board

Is truck robbery at gun point a huge problem currently? Already robbing trucks is pretty simple afaire, but there doesn't seem to be huge boom going on...

That is not the policy of drivers who wish to retain their CDL. Gradually disintegrating radials are a hazard to everyone on the road. It isn't as though blowouts are uncorrelated, anyway.

A common issue with automation, capitalism, etc. People may lose their job and will have to find something else to do, but if it's not a sudden transition, the amount of drivers will be reduced organically; it'd be a matter of less new vacancies opening up, and the career of driver becoming less attractive, so people will find something else.

It's a valid remark to make, since people lose their jobs to automation or outsourcing or whatnot all the time. But overall, global unemployment rates don't seem to be affected by new inventions, instead new jobs are invented all the time.

I mean a shit job that nobody should pursue as a career now is gig economy stuff; underpaid taxi driver / delivery person, there have to be millions doing these kinds of jobs now.

Anyway I do agree, not everyone can go for the high tech / high paid jobs. But the country can accommodate for it; give everyone equal opportunities by funding education (instead of relying on meritocratic scholarships and / or lifelong loans (the phrase indentured servitude comes to mind), do a state fund and set price limits on education). Make more jobs viable by raising the minimum wage, restricting the gig economy, setting work hours and day restrictions (e.g. 0 hour on-call contracts), basic worker protection laws and stuff. And finally, applying downward pressure on the cost of living so everyone can live comfortably regardless of job.

Everyone should be able to do a 40 hour work week if they choose to, no more than that unless they get paid 150%, and less if they choose to. And people working like that should be able to live in a reasonable distance from where they work.

The alternative is the "working poor", homelessness, working multiple jobs, working 80 hour weeks just to meet bare necessities, etc. This is already the reality for a lot of people.

But even semi-controlled isn't fully controlled.

I've always wondered about what happens when the system really gets off the 'happy path'. Maybe there's an accident, and police are directing traffic? Does the truck understand hand gestures (which aren't necessarily standardized)? Or maybe the police aren't there yet, damaged cars are blocking the road, and the truck may need to get out of the way for emergency services to arrive (possibly requiring going a little off road). These happen less on highways, but they still certainly happen, and not having a human in the loop can make things dramatically worse.

Do they have to stop at weigh stations? Do they understand the signage? I suppose most would have the system where you don't have to stop, but I don't know if all weigh stations support that.

There are lots of instances you can imagine that don't require driving skills, but actually require a general intelligence with knowledge of the world around them.

(I suppose you can have a command center where someone can take control or give commands to the truck. Sounds tricky but possible).