The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automate millions of jobs

Re:The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automat... by illumin8 on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @09:48AM (#11571786)

The article says so. The plan is to have human drivers in each city drive the "last mile" from the interstate freeway exit to the destination. The current autonomous technology is only effective on freeways, so having human drivers drop the truck off at the interstate, and pick it up again solves the temporary problem of not having 100% effective automation of city driving/trailer parking.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automat... by wccrawford on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @10:20AM (#11572064)

If I were younger and not married, I could totally see taking a job as a trucker and guiding it on and off the highway, and doing coding or whatever in the meantime. It'd be a chance to go different places and have some adventure, while continuing to do another job that I love.

It's not unlike many college kids taking a job as a security guard and "watching monitors" while doing their homework, etc. (Another thing that I considered, but never actually did.)

Of course, there's a lot more training for truck driving, but I don't see that as a major barrier, given the benefits of extra pay and travel.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automat... by nenreme on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @10:57AM (#11572402)

You don't get the point. You won't be traveling inside that truck. You will only drive trucks in and out of your city.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automat... by african_cheetah on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @12:07PM (#11573038)

I see the evolution of automated vehicles as slowly taking more and more mental load off humans. e.g

1) Automated gears and obstacle detection - we already have this. 2) Have the truck stay in one lane and maintain distance - We're close. This means humans stay in truck and solve the hard problems when encountered. (Kind of like pilots) 3) Automated port to port driving without humans. 4) Destination to destination driving without humans.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automat... by ef4 on Tuesday April 26, 2016 @02:40PM (#11574463)

I bet the human driver doesn't even need to be physically in the truck.

We already fly military aircraft remotely, I don't see why a truck that's packed with cameras and sensors can't be driven safely by a human in an office somewhere.

[ Parent | on HN ]