Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Truck, Please Take Me To...

Self-driving cars are all over the news.  Ed's been talking about the Tesla and it's auto-pilot autonomous option for months.  We will see these cars in our lifetime.  And I think amid the excitement, is a little fear.  Cars without drivers?  Well, not really without, just technologically without.  

Self-driving trucks are also making headlines.  Daimler tested a self-driving truck last year in Nevada, and this year a convoy of self-driving made a trip across several European countries.

If you think people are afraid of autonomous cars....holy crap, they're in for a rude awakening when they know the truck next to them is cruisin' all on its own.  In fact, Otto engineers think automated trucks may be on the highways before the cars, considering the cost of self-driving automobiles to consumers.


This is a hot topic in the trucking community.  People have long talked about how truck driving has gone from "...one of the best blue-collar jobs in the U.S. to an industry one economist said consisted of sweatshops on wheels" and now the future of drivers is at stake.

Not to mention the jobs of those connected to the trucking industry, which according to the American Trucking Associations is 1 in every 15 workers in the country.  It may have more devastating effect, at least initially, than one imagines.

It's at once exciting and a little scary, as no one wants to lose a job, but I see tons of other opportunities that can crop up with these changes.  Of course, I say that with a cavalier attitude because I'm pretty hopeful my truck driving career will be winding down when all of this self-driving technology comes to fruition.  But, we'll see, won't we?

In the meantime, here's a little Q & A I did at the request of Driver Solutions website.  


Now I have to go nap, because today I have to drive our truck if anyone expects this freight to be delivered.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2015: It's What's For Dinner
2014: The House Was Nice, But The Tree Was Amazing
2013: Doubling The Gold In Wyoming
2012: Down Louisiana Way, Where The Blue Dog Resides
2011: Crossing The Park To 5th Avenue
2010: All Work, All Play
2009: Was My Mother Hot, Or What???
2008: The Fiddleheads Of Maine
2007: Fifteen Dollar. We Make Nail Nice. No Probrem.
2006: Road Testing The Girl
2005: Ed Time

2 comments:

Kevin Moriarity said...

I read this on the same day as your post:

http://www.ibtimes.com/chinas-robotics-revolution-apple-supplier-foxconn-replaces-60000-workers-one-factory-2374220

I read some time ago that the "big money" was in driverless trucks, not cars - according to Google. I think it's inevitable as there is just too much money to be saved by replacing humans with machines.

However, I will never get on an airplane without a human pilot - I'll just stay home.

The Daily Rant said...

KEVIN: I read that same article!! And I thought, "That's what's going to happen to trucking." Well, maybe, eventually. If corporations can save money by replacing humans, you know they will. It's all about the dollar these days.

And as far as we know, we're already flying in planes "without" a human pilot. Who knows what goes on up there. LOL

Thanks for taking the time to comment!