You may have seen it in a movie: fleets of transfer trucks, no cabin or driver included, driving themselves along otherwise empty highways, little more than cargo containers on wheels guided by robot or AI program from one point to another. Human drivers need not apply for trucking.
It’s a great way to show your movie is set in the FUTURE, but is this a future we expect to see anytime soon?
Automakers are pushing hard to create increasingly automated vehicles. Billions of dollars are being poured into the race to create a fully autonomous truck that can deliver cargo over a long distance.
The race to full autonomy is still raging, but is anyone actually getting to the finish line?
Still, all the experts say the nation is still years away from fully autonomous trucking. A great deal of work must be done to make the concept workable, including work on navigating extreme weather, as well as a need for new regulations on the governmental side of the equation.
Proponents of the technology argue it would make trucking more efficient, allowing trucks to travel longer hours without a human behind the wheel, and safer.
Others have doubts. They ask if large carriers are moving towards autonomous trucks in order to be safer, or to increase profits? Critics argue hundred of thousands of jobs could be lost to autonomous trucking.
Most think it will take years for the tech to be in place to truly become a national standard, though. Extreme winter weather has limited autonomous trucking testing to southern states so far, and a lack of 5G signal in some areas of the country limit where driverless trucks could go so far. It could be decades before the tech is truly ready in some respects.
Still, for now, some levels of autonomy are creeping into trucks with human drivers and are increasing safety. Features such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure technology and others are allowing drivers to take more control of their surroundings and feel safer on the road with the computer assisting them in tricky situations.
Some trucks even now have tech with driver-facing cameras that can detect fatigue and tell the driver when it’s time to take a rest.
Autonomy is not, in itself, the enemy of truck drivers or trucking.
Autonomous technologies can make human drivers into better drivers. Tech like this can be found with help from Fleet Risk Solutions, which can help a fleet determine what level of technology is best for its purposes.
As autonomy becomes more prevalent in the industry, every fleet owner will need to be ready to adapt or move in another direction as best suits their company, but for now, the stuff in the movies remains only in the movies.
With help from Fleet Risk Solutions, you can be ready, whether it’s a few years or a full generation, when the shift to greater automation comes, you’ll be able to weather such changes without serious damage to your company, your workforce or your bottom line.
About the Author
Logan utilizes a holistic approach to assist trucking companies with growth, and survival in one of the most volatile times in our history. A strong risk management program is critical for every business, but trucking companies are extremely susceptible to breaks in the risk management process. Maintenance violations, driver violations, breakdowns, driver turnover, and the list goes on, all have a domino effect on each other, and the cost of operating a trucking company.