Self driving truck makes delivery

[BigUnionGuy]

I won't even get into the malfunctioning part of vehicles where something can go wrong

"Parts on order. OK to run."

 

[Dr.Brownz]

I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little concerned over this as a feeder driver, but I should put emphasis on the "little" part. If you watch the video the driver lets the system take over after he has it safely on the interstate and in the center lane. Just like the autonomous Freightliner that was debuted in the summer of 2015 this truck cannot do much on its own and requires lot of human input to do much beyond keeping the truck in the lane. I have 25 years of driving left in me and I feel pretty confident that I will get to finish out all 25. These systems will allow us as drivers to be safer and to drive longer, but to replace us is an entirely different matter. Too many variables on the roads these days for even the best A.I system to master. I won't even get into the malfunctioning part of vehicles where something can go wrong and someone needs to be there to take control if and when it does. In the short term this won't affect my job at all, longterm this will make my job much easier, and maybe it will be my replacement. By then I hope to have the title "retiree" that we all look forward to having one day.

I'm sure the route they took also had no construction/closures and fairly light traffic as well. Not only that but they had a van tailing it the whole time, which I'm sure was in some form of electronic contact with the semi. Let's see it complete a delivery across a major metro area during rush hour traffic.

 

[By The Book]

"Parts on order. OK to run."

Can't duplicate, safe to operate.

 

[Dr.Brownz]

D

The problem is that if this does go full scale, UPS will expect a pay cut from all drivers across the board.
This would affect retirees when the amount of money going into the pension fund gets slashed huge.

As of right now, I don't see the government allowing it for a long time.
Planes can fly all by themselves with computers , but FAA still require 2 qualified pilots to be on there.
You would still need drivers for rural routes where driveways are used all the time.
I don't see anyone in the North being impacted since I don't know how a computer could see through a snow covered road, let alone lens being covered in ice.

Dudebro already told me the answer to any problem with sensors "Just have 3 of them" Yeah that solves everything

 

[Dr.Brownz]

How will self-driving technology function in cities (like Seattle or Portland) with heavy bicycle traffic? How many bicyclists will get a pair of bionic legs on UPS?

 

[El Correcto]

Wow a fancy cruise control, sure I'll be out of a job by next year.

 

[rod]

 

[Gear]

Stills has an engine, transmission, rear carriers, driveline, suspension, brakes and supporting electronics. Mechs are good to go, no worries here.

 

[clean hairy]

Imagine this scenario:
Peak week, adverse weather.
The sensors, cameras, coumputers, etc. conclude not safe to leave the hub so they do not move until safe to do so.
The Big Cheese is going to go out and threaten warning letter if the truck does not leave NOW!
And, we know they REALLY do care about our safety, so they would not put a person in a truck on manual override when the computers have established the roads are unsafe to drive on!

 

[JL 0513]

"Self driving truck makes first delivery".

No it didn't.

I didn't see it drive anywhere other than a clean center highway lane.
I didn't see where the truck unloaded itself.
I didn't see it choose the correct dock and back into the dock avoiding all obstacles on the property.
I didn't see the truck acquire a signature for the delivery.

There's trillions of variables to account for in getting a tractor trailer from A-B not counting all the delivery tasks not associated with driving.

 

[clean hairy]

When it establishes something requires repair, it will drive itself to the shop, spit a report of what requires repairing for the Mechanic to fix?
And, just how will the mechanic convince it, "parts on order, OK to run?"
Will it just sit there and refuse to leave until it decides it is not only repaired, but repaired to the standards it has established?

 

[moldsporh]

That's why feeders will be much easier to replace than package car drivers.

Yeah . ..nothing like a 20 ton tractor trailer rolling down the road with no human intervention to control it. Wonder how much the automated feeder cost would be with a few fatalities to pay for factored in.

I don't care how technologically advanced automated vehicles are......you can't just replace human intelligence in an area like this Would be incredibly stupid to have imo.

 

[moldsporh]

I tell you what, the first company to try a self delivering vehicle in my area, won't ever come to my house. That will mark the end of using that delivery company.

There are two reasons, one is or safety, the other which is a very close second...is providing a living for an employee. If people think this world is going to better itself by removing working Americans from their job to save some $$$ to implicate an automated workforce have a rude awakening coming.

 

[Mechanic86]

When it establishes something requires repair, it will drive itself to the shop, spit a report of what requires repairing for the Mechanic to fix?
And, just how will the mechanic convince it, "parts on order, OK to run?"
Will it just sit there and refuse to leave until it decides it is not only repaired, but repaired to the standards it has established?

Yep, Red Tagged. Parts on order.

 

[JL 0513]

I'm all for technological advancement but we're approaching a potentially dangerous turning point in which computers/robotics take over way too much of human tasks (jobs). Certainly more tech jobs get created but no where near the amount of jobs lost to the tech. We've already reached a point where we are at permanent high real unemployment (not the fake number government uses). Regardless of what politicians promise, high unemployment is here to stay and will likely grow and grow as this tech matures.

Driving, mostly truck driving, is the single most common job description in America. Where will we be displaced? The other most common jobs are retail and restaurant jobs and those already have self checkouts and kiosks becoming commonplace. Robots are already on their way in to become customer service workers.

We can't stop progress but the consequences could be economically devastating when half of everything humans do today is replaced. And just remember that robots will be making the robots too.

 

[Brownslave688]

Yeah . ..nothing like a 20 ton tractor trailer rolling down the road with no human intervention to control it. Wonder how much the automated feeder cost would be with a few fatalities to pay for factored in.

I don't care how technologically advanced automated vehicles are......you can't just replace human intelligence in an area like this Would be incredibly stupid to have imo.

And that's why human acceptance is a much bigger hurdle than the technology

 

[Brownslave688]

I'm all for technological advancement but we're approaching a potentially dangerous turning point in which computers/robotics take over way too much of human tasks (jobs). Certainly more tech jobs get created but no where near the amount of jobs lost to the tech. We've already reached a point where we are at permanent high real unemployment (not the fake number government uses). Regardless of what politicians promise, high unemployment is here to stay and will likely grow and grow as this tech matures.

Driving, mostly truck driving, is the single most common job description in America. Where will we be displaced? The other most common jobs are retail and restaurant jobs and those already have self checkouts and kiosks becoming commonplace. Robots are already on their way in to become customer service workers.

We can't stop progress but the consequences could be economically devastating when half of everything humans do today is replaced. And just remember that robots will be making the robots too.

This I completely agree with. We are treading a dangerous line but we have never slowed technology for the benefit of jobs.

 

[JL 0513]

This I completely agree with. We are treading a dangerous line but we have never slowed technology for the benefit of jobs.

Yup, and I would never suggest we slow technology in any way. That would be some screwed up totalitarian society if we tried that. This is just something we inevitably have to face. Question is how do we have a society where only half or perhaps even less of working age people can't get work? I'm talking about well down the road when robots reach humanoid functionality as androids perhaps as portrayed in the movie iRobot.

 

[alister]

"Self driving truck makes first delivery".

No it didn't.

I didn't see it drive anywhere other than a clean center highway lane.
I didn't see where the truck unloaded itself.
I didn't see it choose the correct dock and back into the dock avoiding all obstacles on the property.
I didn't see the truck acquire a signature for the delivery.

There's trillions of variables to account for in getting a tractor trailer from A-B not counting all the delivery tasks not associated with driving.

how far away do you think it is till an automated truck is able to follow a human driver in another rig in front of it? or for that matter 5 rigs behind the human driver. you could have 2 sleeper drivers drive from New York to Dallas and another team to take the trucks from Dallas to LA. two day service with out getting on a plane. the trucks wouldn't even need to start in the same hub. the additional rigs could meet up on the road and hand off to other drivers.

 

[Gear]

When it establishes something requires repair, it will drive itself to the shop, spit a report of what requires repairing for the Mechanic to fix?
And, just how will the mechanic convince it, "parts on order, OK to run?"
Will it just sit there and refuse to leave until it decides it is not only repaired, but repaired to the standards

When it establishes something requires repair, it will drive itself to the shop, spit a report of what requires repairing for the Mechanic to fix?
And, just how will the mechanic convince it, "parts on order, OK to run?"
Will it just sit there and refuse to leave until it decides it is not only repaired, but repaired to the standards it has established?

Dont be jelly. Just because you get ridden like a bicycle all day and I read the newspaper. Sometimes I forget my pen to write, "parts on order, ok to drive", and have to walk all the way back to my desk. Im exhausted by the time I get back.

These trucks would have a ton of monitoring sensors that would kick codes which could easily replace hand written write ups. You have to remember this truck is way more advanced then any truck in the UPS fleet. This isnt an old 800 with no power steering.