Why not make automated trains with their own dedicated right of way?
The first driverless semis have started running regular longhaul routes | CNN Business
Submitted 3 weeks ago by cm0002@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/01/business/first-driverless-semis-started-regular-routes
Comments
twopi@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Rambomst@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
But that would require investment in infrastructure…
drmoose@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Bet that semi trucks are more expensive due to road damage and congestion alone.
yggstyle@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
*** everyone but the lobbyists liked that ***
JeremyHuntQW12@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
They already are automated trains on freight only routes like mines.
twopi@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Outside of mines or just in mines? I know that mines are becoming more automated but what about commercial routes.
catloaf@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
It’s absurd to suggest running a railway to every warehouse in East Bumfuck, Missouri.
drmoose@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
No one’s claiming that. Trucks can still handle the last mile just like they do it with container ships.
Im no logistics expert byt ship -> train -> semi sounds like a great infrastructure design especially now as the container is interchangeable between all of these mediums.
PattyMcB@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Great… I can’t wait to be hit by one of those on my motorcycle
Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’d actually bet they’re safer than some tweaked out dude on his 20th hour at the wheel.
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Ok, elmo. Do you work in AI?
SHOW_ME_YOUR_ASSHOLE@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Same. Our government can’t even figure out a way for us to trigger a green light so I’m not confident that any self-driving vehicle regulations will consider us either.
lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Heh, I got hit by that stupid thing today. Luckily the crosswalk button was right there, so I ran over and smacked it before the traffic signal cycled.
fishos@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Large neodymium magnet on the bottom will do it. Most are induction activated. They taught this in every motorcycle driving class I ever attended, along with the rules for legally running a red light.
yggstyle@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I vaguely remember a dystopian book that described that exact thing as the protagonist thinking he was looking at an odd flag on the front of the truck until he realized what it was. Can’t remember what the book was though 😔
jballs@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
As of Thursday, the company’s self-driving tech has completed over 1,200 miles without a human in the truck.
That’s not an impressive number. That’s like 2 days’ worth of driving.
suicidaleggroll@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Yeah that’s about 2 and a half round-trips between Dallas and Houston, that’s…not a lot to be calling this thing ready to go and pulling out the safety drivers.
I wonder how these handle accidents, traffic stops, bad lane markings from road construction, mechanical failures, etc.
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
That figure is without a human in the truck, not with a safety driver. I.E, they’ve done a bunch of testing beforehand.
GluWu@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Most rigs go at least 1,000,000 miles and that isn’t isn’t even end off life. You’ll be paying not much less than new for a rig that only has 100k, that’s practically brand new. These systems should have 100 million proven miles. These things weight 80,000lbs which can be very hazardous materials.
You should see the pile ups semis cause in low visibility. Even with really good lidar, I hesitant to say autonomous trucks can be safe running off independent systems on full mixed use roads.
We could add those systems to all roads to feed back to semis to know conditions and hazards miles before they reach them. We could build new smart roads for all autonomous vechilce to travel on separately.
Or we could just end the 100+ year old railroad cartel. Could move people and cargo with ease. But that isn’t profitable.
Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
The one article I heard on TechLinked talked about them using lidarr.
So better in every way than a tesla.
Assuming they are top mounted, they have a better scanning coverage than a regular car.sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
It would be more interesting to know how many miles they completed with the safety driver in the vehicle.
futatorius@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
You’d think that, but you’re talking about Texas, where corporate profit always wins over people’s safety and well-being.
JeremyHuntQW12@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Its enough to prove the concept.
If it saves 1% of operating costs trucking businesses will be falling over themselves to implement it.
drmoose@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Nah no one’s going to bother with new tech for 1% - that’s crazy.
11111one11111@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s 5 one way trips. The article says the trucks run from Dallas to Houston which is about 250 miles according to google. It does mention that over 4 years it’s made 10,000 deliveries but I wasn’t sure if that meant as a company or with the self driving trucks but had a driver in the truck for the 10,000 deliveries. It only specifies that the 1,200 miles has been done without a person in the truck.
Hawke@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
What an incredibly infuriating waste of effort that would be so much better spent on trains, driverless or otherwise.
boatswain@infosec.pub 3 weeks ago
I don’t know why you’re being down voted; here’s an upvote for being sensible.
Redex68@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I disagree. There are many situations where a truck is better suited for transport than a train. The US already has a pretty large freight train network. I agree that there definitely should be more investment in rail as well, but there’s no reason for both not to exist at the same time.
Hawke@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
There are, but “long haul routes” are definitely better for a train.
ThePantser@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
And how do they handle a person slowing down in front of them and hijacking them? At least a human might be able to navigate away aggressively but I think the programming would prevent as much harm as possible.
This new lawless future and we may need to raid corpo lords.
saltesc@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I can’t really imagine people wanting to hijack a truck that’s basically a giant camera and tracking sysystem.
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’ve seen plenty of youtube videos to know people are dumb enough to try this.
ThePantser@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
The resistance needs supplies!
MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Really?
Big box truck, no plate or other #s on the rear. Halloween masks for the crew.
I think that’d work, no problem.
CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I dunno I can see it being done, go in first with a drone and blind the cameras one by one (not hard to rig it up with spray paint) then go in and grab the goods, pick an isolated section of the route so you’re gone by the time anyone comes looking.
I for one predict a glorious era of road pirates.
futatorius@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
Bring lots of aluminum foil to wrap it in.
acosmichippo@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
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No one is “navigating away” from motivated thieves in an 18 wheeler loaded with cargo.
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why would you want a human doing anything aggressive on the road endangering themselves and likely others in the process?
If you’re getting hijacked don’t risk your life and others’ lives on the road for the sake of corporate assets.
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MBech@feddit.dk 3 weeks ago
Honestly, sounds like the corporation’s problem. I’m more afraid for human lives than some product in the back. In a case like that it’d be better to not have a driver who could be killed.
JeremyHuntQW12@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Why do you think a morbidly obese truck driver would have any luck against blaggers with shotguns ?
fishos@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Driverless does not meant unmonitored. Aside from numerous sensors, including door sensors, you really think if it suddenly slows to 0 mph at an unscheduled time/location that it’s not going to alert someone? “Hey, your freight just stopped transporting itself. Guess we should do nothing”. Aside from most of these being ready to be taken over by a remote driver if need be for liability and convenience reasons.
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Fuck cars. Fuck massive death trucks even more.
The_Caretaker@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
SouthEndSunset@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Upgrayedd1776@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
ahhh yes, before he was Gustavo Frein, he was the dude killed by a video game in this
andybytes@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
I wonder if this is gonna be like Waymo, where statistically speaking, the amount of cars that they had on the road, with how many crashes they had, it was deemed ineffective and dangerous, but as soon as they reduced the cars on the road they had less incidents because less odds. At this point, they probably continue to suck up subsidies and donar $ so they keep their little goofy business afloat. So what happens now? When It crashes into a school bus, who is held accountable? This is not a good idea. We need to tax the rich and corporations shouldn’t have so much power. We didn’t ask for this future. Anybody with a damn lick of sense knows that this is a stupid idea. Also, why? Like, just make more trains. America is so stupid. The fact that you just fight over cars versus walkable cities. I am actively trying to find a way out of here. These are horrific insanely stupid ideas. It’s like doing it the hard way because you’re too prideful to admit that you have a shitty infrastructure.I have seen Europe, I have experienced it, and it is far superior to the shitty infrastructure of the United States. I was born in America. I lived in America, but I do not identify with this way of life or culture. My head spins with just where people’s minds are at in this country. How little they know. It’s terrifying. If you’re out there, just know. It is better elsewhere and chase those goals. You’re not crazy. There’s a better world. Not perfect, but a better world out there. Leave if you want to leave, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
masterofn001@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
But, do they speak English?
OmegaLemmy@discuss.online 3 weeks ago
Even in a hypothetical best-case scenario world, unless you have a driver on board any malfunction and you’re delayed 2-8 hours because there wasn’t a person in there to repair anything
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
How many issues on a truck is the driver able to fix themselves though?
catloaf@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
A lot. Most of them do a lot of basic maintenance and break-fix work themselves.
zephorah@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Terrifying.
I wonder how much our car insurance will go up due to this.
Molecular5869@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
I get that you’re scared about multi ton vehicles running without a human. But self driving can and actually be safer than human drivers sometimes. Yes, self driving vehicles can cause devistating accidents in situations where a human driver would have handled the situation much better. Sometimes they can just bug out, which seems particularly dangerous, but we also need to consider who they’re replacing: Humans. Humans get tired, Humans text & drive, Humans blink, Humans Yawn, Humans do drugs, Humans sometimes just don’t pay attention. Because machines don’t have any of these factors, they can statistically be much safer, of course assuming the technology is ripe enough and thoroughly tested before it’s used.
futatorius@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
Also assuming those human errors don’t bring them into contact with a driverless truck hurtling along at 70 mph.
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Ok, elmo.
endeavor@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
How is it better than trains again?
rekabis@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
Not after the first snowfall, they won’t.
Sunsofold@lemmings.world 2 weeks ago
Great, just in time for the number of shipments of imports needing to be distributed across the US to plummet…
rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Lot lizard economy in shambles.
Smoogs@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Good. No more freedom convoy MAGA base.
andybytes@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
Both political parties are anti-union, anti-worker, and anti-American.
RagingRobot@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Ok then join the fight against the ones in power and shut the fuck up
w3dd1e@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
But do the drivers speak English? /s
rtxn@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Americans will do anything to avoid just using trains.
lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
While I don’t necessarily disagree with you, trains are used here all the time, very specifically for this kind of thing.
AdamEatsAss@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Rail is used in the US. We just don’t have as much rail infustructure so they can only get so far. If the port/factory/wearhouse aren’t connect by rail then they’ll have to use trucks for at least part of the transit.
Fondots@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I used to be the shipping/receiving guy in a warehouse, it fell to me to arrange all of our freight pickups, which was annoying because I didn’t really have direct access to any information about pricing, deadlines, etc. so I was constantly going back to the office to show someone quotes to see whether the rates and transit times were acceptable.
Most of our freight was LTL stuff (less than truckload, a couple pallets, not enough to fill a truck by itself) but a few times every month or two we’d get full truckload sized orders.
When it came to them, often “intermodal” shipping had much better rates. Intermodal meaning at least 2 different forms of transportation were going to be used. Truck, train, boat, cargo plane, etc.
As a US-based company with mostly US-based customers, that usually meant rail for us.
However, almost none of our shipments went intermodal because it was too slow for our customers.
It wasn’t usually a drastic difference, we’re talking maybe 1-3 extra days in most cases. Over the Road (OTR) there weren’t many places in the US that we couldn’t get freight to from our location in 5 days or less, and those 5 day locations were mostly real middle-of-nowhere customers on the other side of the country.
It always blew my mind that we didn’t or couldn’t push our customers to just place orders 2 or 3 days earlier to save some pretty significant money on shipping.
I don’t claim to know much about the industry, i was just some kid who needed a job and ended up the shipping guy because I knew how to use a computer and spoke English. But we a textile company that made things like work clothes (chef coats, scrubs, industrial work wear, etc) and restaurant table linens, and we sold mostly to bigger wholesalers, business service companies, etc. who would resell it or provide it to their customers as part some sort of contracted laundry service or something, so not really something I’d think of as being particularly time-sensitive or wildly unpredictable that they couldn’t anticipate their bigger orders a couple days ahead of time
Guess it probably says something about how much we all love instant gratification.
fishos@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Except that nearly all US rail is for freight. We hate PASSENGER trains. We freaking love freight rail.
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Except that’s only 2% of freight by value.
Image
energy.gov/…/fact-846-november-10-2014-trucks-mov…
drmoose@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
But american freight trains are laughably bad too
youtu.be/AJ2keSJzYyY
Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
And semi rigs are…personal transport?
muusemuuse@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Trains help poor people too. We like to pretend we don’t have poor people. Makes them easier to ignore while pretending to be Christian.
Ulrich@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
Trains are great but they don’t typically run to your local warehouse…
deranger@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
They used to.
jenesaisquoi@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
They have, and they could again
JeremyHuntQW12@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Not much competition in railways. Like literally none.