Comment on Tractor-trailers with no one aboard? The future is near for self-driving trucks on US roads
Emperor@feddit.uk 5 months ago
“If you’re driving a truck today,” he said, “my expectation is you’re going to be able to retire driving a truck.”
Probably true as it will take a while for them to ramp the numbers up to cover the shortage in truck drivers, and they’ll still need drivers for that last mile (as these trucks work best going between depots on freeways) but how long will being a truck driver be a viable occupation? When it’s one of the biggest areas of employment, can everyone transition to other logistical jobs, as suggested by the article?
abhibeckert@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Have you heard of “pedestrian controlled” trucks? They’re increasingly common.
They’re small (carry maybe half a ton of cargo max) and you just grab them by a handle and pull them, they follow wherever you take them and you can be extremely precise with their position. Often there’s a lifting function (to load cargo onto/off of tall shelves or stack cargo on top of each other on the floor), and some can be setup as a train.
You’re not always limited to walking speed, some of them have a platform the operator can stand on to increase the speed.
I could totally see those increasing in size, to the size of a full size shipping container maybe, and having a wireless control system instead of needing to stand right next to it (which could be dangerous). It’d have sensors prevent the operator from running into anything and the control would just be a pair of joysticks. Outside of the loading dock of a building, they’d be able to drive autonomously.
14th_cylon@lemm.ee 5 months ago
they are called forklifts and they are around for quite some time now 😆
AtariDump@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Just ask Klause.
14th_cylon@lemm.ee 5 months ago
oh my. the… motorized pedestrian truck driver klaus. haven’t seen this gem in some time.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChOHnSL7ZCg