Posted on 05/07/2015 2:03:40 AM PDT by WhiskeyX
Daimler debuts self-driving semi-truck
Its name is “Inspiration,” and Daimler Trucks says it is the first ever self-driving semi-truck licensed to drive on public roads — in this case Nevada’s highways — not only for testing, but business, too.
Daimler Trucks North America LLC debuted the self-driving big rig Tuesday night with a drive — and a driver steering — atop the Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border.
Taking a line from astronaut Neil Armstrong, Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard of Daimler Trucks and Buses told the crowd bused to the site from Las Vegas for the news conference that they were about to witness “a short drive for man and a long haul for mankind.”
(Excerpt) Read more at japantimes.co.jp ...
It would be like having a co-pilot for long trips on interstate highways.
Driving a truck was the hardest job I ever had. I just couldn’t keep it up, even driving with my husband. My dad was a trucker.. My hat’s off to ya. I still think if every trucker just stopped running to DC maybe people would see that everything they depend on was on a truck at one time, either as raw material, finished goods. Shoestrings, keys, doorknobs, cellphones and everything else.
No such thing as a “self-driving” car. “Self-driving” is what we have NOW.
These vehicles will be GOVERNMENT-DRIVEN.
And any time the government wants, the doors of your car will lock, and the car will “drive itself” to the police station, or maybe straight to prison. Think of the billions the government will save by getting rid of “trials,” and “investigations,” and other duplicative procedures.
There won't be anymore truckers. This will eliminate them.
Do you really think the Teamsters are going to let these self driving trucks get a foothold...expect these robot tracks to suffer from a rash of blown out tires and very expensive crashes as they roll down route 80, etc. The insurance premiums will explode and that will be that.
They can't stop it. I doubt they can even slow it down. This is not going to be some industry specific event. It is going to ripple through the entire society. The pressure will come from the companies that insure the vehicles, improved fuel costs, labor savings, time to market, supply chain integration, etc. What will the teamsters do when 3rd party vendor contracts require the service?
How much % of the freight is hauled by teamsters now?
Wiki says only 32%
the way to make money is to buy such a truck and control it from your eaqsy chair at home
We’ll see...I see a major economic reset coming in the next couple years. What’s happening in Baltimore is going to spread everywhere, and not just be racial, it will revolve around jobs, money, etc. Besides it would not take a hell of a lot of craziesvto bring this to a grinding halt. A couple guys could shut this down. It will be no different than a couple guys shutting the grid down by shooting up a couple key power stations.
Some autos now have features like this, such as “lane departure” and emergency stopping.
Such technology makes sense for trucks for safety’s sake.
The largest truck makers include Daimler, Volvo, Toyota, Izusu, VW Group, etc.
American companies not in top five.
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