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A comment on The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automate millions of jobs. Parent comment

Re:The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automat... by patrickg_zill on Monday April 25, 2016 @09:53PM (#11568873)
Actually you can't, for a lot of goods. Reason is that the railroad won't give you the same guarantees and trackability a truck will.

Example: you have refrigerated items (let's say a shipment of fresh fruit) that has to be maintained at a constant temperature and you want it delivered to your customer on Thursday when you ship Sunday night.

Truck: not a problem, and you can easily get updates all the time from dispatch (or if there is a GPS unit on the truck, immediately).

Railroad: maybe they will get it there, maybe they won't.

If the railroad puts a refrigerator unit on your boxcar and it breaks down, too bad - they won't reimburse you. A trucking company will.

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Re:The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automat... by amatix on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @03:21AM (#11570010)
> Railroad: maybe they will get it there, maybe they won't. > If the railroad puts a refrigerator unit on your boxcar and it breaks down, too bad - they won't reimburse you. A trucking company will.

Sounds like both of those are more to do with shit rail companies than inherent downsides of rail (or upsides of trucking)?

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Re:The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automat... by Symbiote on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @04:13AM (#11570199)
Just in time delivery by rail works in Europe, perhaps because the track is maintained to a high standard and can be relied upon, and the timetable adhered to to avoid delaying passenger trains.
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Re:The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automat... by aidenn0 on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @01:24AM (#11569622)
> If the railroad puts a refrigerator unit on your boxcar and it breaks down, too bad - they won't reimburse you. A trucking company will.

Insurance?

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Re:The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automat... by _pmf_ on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @11:20AM (#11572593)
> Insurance?

If the thing you insure against actually happens, premiums go up to the point of it being uneconomic.

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Re:The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automat... by pm24601 on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @06:02AM (#11570599)
Sorry to burst your bubble here -- but the railroads were doing exactly that since the days of refrigeration via blocks of ice. ( http://californiabountiful.com/features/article.aspx?arID=56... )

> Now retired after more than 30 years in the produce business, Wolf noted that farmers began growing iceberg lettuce in the region just prior to the 1930s. The demand for the hearty lettuce variety soon took off through the use of refrigerated rail cars.

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