Though it still requires a live driver to take over in case of problems (undefined). This has the potential of improving road safety (given problems with over-worked truck drivers, etc.), but could (when taken to the next level) also imply some economic disruption as drivers lose their jobs.
Of course, in a fully automated setup, deliveries could be made faster, without that pesky downtime for sleep.
(How does a police vehicle wave over a fully automated truck? I guess that's one of the things a driver is for.)
I do have concerns about people being even more careless when merging around self-driving trucks (or the AI being less able to anticipate those sorts of stupid moves), so there's some definite room for reduced safety here, too.
Originally shared by +Yonatan Zunger:
The first road-legal self-driving truck has been issued a license plate by the state of Nevada. The vehicle is "NHTSA level 3" certified, which means that it can drive itself, but a driver is required to be able to take over control if the need arises. (Level 4, at which nothing has yet been certified, can operate completely autonomously, without any humans paying attention at all)
Daimler (which owns Freightliner) is pitching this as a solution for driver drowsiness, which is a significant issue for truck drivers. Going forward, this is likely to be an important milestone in getting autonomous transport into our day-to-day world.
Freightliner unveils the first road-legal self-driving truck
The autonomous big rig is meant to reduce driver drowsiness, and thus accidents.
Very interesting. Sort of reminds me of commercial airline pilots. They take off, they land, but they basically just sit there during the actual flight and let auto-pilot take care of everything unless something happens.
Since it currently only works on highways, I don't think any drivers will lose their jobs, but I do see the industry trying to drastically reduce pay by saying 'hey, the computer does most of the work.'
Speaking as a driver and knowing problems about the industry this will never address including malfunctioning equipment, lack of maint, dangerous weather, ability to respond quickly to local law enforcement, etc., leaves me sadly amused by this. If these are put on the road as they start to age the deadly accidents due to these will increase exponentially and soon enough they will be outlawed again.