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The road to the self-driving truck * USA - Significant challenges remain
* DC - The potential benefits are huge, and much of the technology is ready
... The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) formally divides vehicle automation into five levels.
* NHTSA’s Level 0 is no automation at all, with the auto or truck driver in complete and sole control of the vehicle at all times.
* Level 1 adds automation for specific control functions, with technologies such as electronic stability control or ABS.
* Level 2 extends that by combining two or more of those systems to take over control from the driver in specific situations. NHTSA’s example of a Level 2 vehicle is one where adaptive cruise control is combined with a lane sensing system to keep it centered in its lane and traveling at the same speed as the vehicle in front of it...
* What most of us would think of as a self-driving truck is classified as Level 3 by NHTSA, or what it calls “limited self-driving automation” ... Level 3 a driver could turn over full control of the vehicle under the right conditions for long periods of time. The vehicle monitors conditions around it and when necessary turns control back to the driver, who is always available to take control. Trucks that could drive themselves on highways either alone or in a platoon would be considered Level 3 vehicles...
* A fully autonomous or Level 4 vehicle would be able to initiate and complete an entire trip without any driver input beyond entering navigation waypoints or a destination. Once directed to a destination, the Level 4 truck could even operate without anyone aboard...
... From this perspective, the self-driving truck isn’t that always-in-the-future flying car, at least not at Level 3. In fact, most of the foundation technologies are already available in production trucks, or will be within the year. And the final pieces needed to create the Level 3 autonomous truck are already well along in the development stage...
Washington, DC, USA - Fleet Owner, by Jim Mele - May 8, 2015
* DC - How will the first self-driving 18-wheeler change the trucking labor market?
-- While the trucking industry goes on largely unperceived by the common American, its size and importance are formidable... For nearly a century, the nation’s wares have been transported across thousands of miles of highway by human beings, truckers, behind the wheel of 18-wheel vehicles. With the recent unveiling, by Daimler Demos, of the Freightliner Inspiration Truck (FIT), the first self-driving 18-wheeler, change is on the horizon. How will this development change the trucking labor force? ... While the idea of a self-driving truck would make one think that companies would no longer need truckers, this is untrue. The FIT has some limitations. For example, it cannot operate itself in heavy rain, snow or 30-40 MPH cross-winds. The job of the trucker will be modified and his wages may change, but he won’t be eliminated... Speaking to the Washington Post, Richard Stocking, president of Swift Transportation, which operates 18,000 trucks, said, “This definitely could be a win-win for the driver and the company he works for, to be able to do other things when he is in that autonomous mode” ... Stocking also speculated that the typical trucker profile may change as well: “He [said] autonomous trucks may bring in new populations as drivers, such as college students looking to make money on a weekend. [He] also threw out the possibility of drivers seeing their wages increase as they take on additional duties, and are not just paid for the miles they cover,” reports the Washington Post... Not all stakeholder reactions are characterized by unbridled enthusiasm. The American Trucking Associations (ATA), a leading advocate for the trucking industry, strongly supports technological development but also wants to invite the public into further dialogue concerning infrastructure, weather and how else the FIT will impact the labor force... One thing is for sure. Things will never be the same in American trucking...
Washington, DC, USA - Business Review, by Tomas H. Lucero - 8 May 2015
Labels: autonomous trucks, self driving trucks
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