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Driverless semis have started running regular longhaul routes

cnn.com

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Re: Driverless semis have started running regular longhaul routes

#251

Post by dylan604 »

recursive wrote: post #249
dylan604 wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

comparing an elevator to a semi-truck and trailer as the same is disingenuous at best, and pointless at worst. as of now, i'm hard pressed to find a point to your question

OK I'll explain it to you. Automation changes the labor landscape as it has done since the industrial revolution. This is nothing new.

okay, but automating an elevator is something someone from python bootcamp could do. automating a semi-truck is not. so again, to compare the two is ludicrous. if you honestly feel like they are the same, you are someone I would semi-politely make my excuse to leave the conversation at a party. hey, look, there's someone over there that i haven't seen and would really like to talk to them rather than you. enjoy the party

Re: Driverless semis have started running regular longhaul routes

#252

Post by dylan604 »

93po wrote: post #244
dylan604 wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how are the trailers getting charged? there are a lot more trailers than tractors, and having enough charge capacity for trailers seems like a lot. There are a lot of trailers that are just a frame with wheels for a shipping container.

trailers have to sit at docks to get loaded and unloaded. they can charge then. meanwhile the truck can leave instantly. maybe a two part system of flatbed trailer with battery + cargo container sitting on top that?

who's managing/wrangling those trailers to keep them rotating to always stay charged? you just created a new job type at the ports

Re: Driverless semis have started running regular longhaul routes

#253

Post by brookst »

meristohm wrote: post #154
brookst wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t get it. Say I’m building a company to ship self-driving trucks. I need hundreds of millions, maybe billions in capital. I need to line up purchasers. My fixed costs are huge and marginal lower, so I need volume. How, exactly, am I thinking about “threatening” existing drivers so they work longer hours and break more laws?

Are you entitled to get what you want to make DreamCo operate? What are all the costs involved, and not just costs to you directly?

I wasn’t arguing for a social good, I’m ambivalent on that.

I thought I was pretty clearly questioning the claim that the motivation of DreamCo is somehow to threaten truckers so they work harder, as opposed to (wisely or not) trying to sell trucks.

Re: Driverless semis have started running regular longhaul routes

#254

Post by bdbenton5255 »

I remember reading an online study that listed the jobs most likely to be replaced by automation and "truck driver" was listed at the top.

For the keen eye, automation creates new jobs as it replaces others. Someone has to design, implement, and maintain these systems. There is always a higher level of abstraction where a human being is needed to oversee things.

Re: Driverless semis have started running regular longhaul routes

#255

Post by bdbenton5255 »

wonderwonder wrote: post #106

The future is here. Truckers are one of the largest employers in the country. We are moving fast towards a new era. We need to start thinking about how we adjust as a society

Phone operators have gone the way of the dodo as well. We should embrace these changes with a forward-looking attitude and look at how such systems create brand new roles in society.

Re: Driverless semis have started running regular longhaul routes

#256

Post by jclulow »

bdbenton5255 wrote: post #254

I remember reading an online study that listed the jobs most likely to be replaced by automation and "truck driver" was listed at the top. For the keen eye, automation creates new jobs as it replaces others. Someone has to design, implement, and maintain these systems. There is always a higher level of abstraction where a human being is needed to oversee things.

Generally it creates comparatively few of those new jobs, and they are concentrated in a different geographic location, than the substantially more vast economic violence of destroying an industry.

Re: Driverless semis have started running regular longhaul routes

#257

Post by stephen_g »

floxy wrote: post #86
recursivedoubts wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

next level would be to hook these "platoons" together physically and then centralize the propulsion in a super efficient package. And then we could move them off the highways and onto specialized "tracks" that guarantee they don't deviate from the planned routes. speculative, alien technology, admittedly, but some day our scientists will figure it out i bet!

So why aren't trains automated yet? I mean, beside the inter-airport shuttles. Seems like a much more constrained set of parameters to deal with. I'd think this would be a good "first" project to tackle for an AV company, even if the economics of replacing locomotive drivers/engineers weren't super compelling. Is it an insurance thing? Because a train wreck could be much more disastrous and costly? Or is it a union t…

Almost all of the currently automated rail systems in the world have two things:

1. Full grade separation with no level crossings (often including platform edge doors along any station platforms the trains move through too)

2. Full fencing along the corridor.

Those are two things that isn’t true for almost any freight line.

Not to say it’s not possible with extremely extensive sensor and decision making systems but we’re probably not really there yet.

Re: Driverless semis have started running regular longhaul routes

#258

Post by lenerdenator »

maxerickson wrote: post #118
hbsbsbsndk wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you been to a bank branch recently? There is almost no staff, and to get help you have to call an offshored call center.

My little credit union usually has 3-4 tellers and some additional staff that handle more complicated stuff.

Your little credit union lacks the capital to have automated systems handle more complicated stuff... for now.

Used to work at a bank that had a few local branches as a teller when I was a senior in HS. Had old, antiquated technology but had a "person on the phone whenever you needed help".

I'm going to guess that the bank that bought them out was quite a bit more advanced, and the banks that do the same will be buying out the less advanced ones.

Re: Driverless semis have started running regular longhaul routes

#259

Post by sandspar »

bdbenton5255 wrote: post #254

I remember reading an online study that listed the jobs most likely to be replaced by automation and "truck driver" was listed at the top. For the keen eye, automation creates new jobs as it replaces others. Someone has to design, implement, and maintain these systems. There is always a higher level of abstraction where a human being is needed to oversee things.

I'm sure that's comforting for the CDL guys who just got laid off.

Re: Driverless semis have started running regular longhaul routes

#260

Post by wombatpm »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #52
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A "drivered" lead truck is leading one or more driverless trucks in this case My bet is this goes nowhere. It’s a horseless carriage that doesn’t have enough time to pay itself back versus fully-automated platoons with remote back-up.

It seems like there's an aerodynamic advantage to the platoons. Placing an autonomous truck in the lead of one of these platoons, down the road, seems like a reasonable "upgrade" strategy.

If we can fly a drone halfway across the world, why can’t we have human augmentation for self driving trucks. Have a human, rested, and alert monitoring several platoons back at HQ. The only reason you want a person on the train is security and paperwork.
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