When will driverless trucks be the norm? Controlled by GPS, fitted with sensors to avoid other vehicles and pedestrians, doing exactly what trucks do now but without a driver’s wages to pay?
On the Mercedes-Benz testing ground in Germany, and no doubt in many other places, they whizz around every day, constantly being evolved and improved.
So the question is, “When will the majority of trucks be completely automated?”
Did see some footage of merc test. All was going well until they sent a remote control device (pedestrian) accross a pedestrian crossing,
the device (pedestrian) was hit by the test car.
It is though only a matter of time, but traffic and pedestrians may need seperating by improved road design.
On a slightly different angle there’s a port somewhere it might be Rotterdam that has driverless straddle carriers which seem to work a treat but driverless trucks ? no.
Never happen with something as unpredictable as road transport, certainly not in this country, which will be all but concreted over in about another 100 years the way the population is rising.
Probably fossil fuel shortages and costs will force integrated transport systems in due course, and would make sense now let alone later, linking several trailers or whatever they are then together and having one guided tractive unit to haul over long distances, glorified updated Freightliner sort of thing, maybe on rails maybe guided on separated lanes on major roads.
There will always be a human involved though, as with trains, fail safe.
never.
who’s going to strap or rope the load?
who’s going to check the straps and ropes further down the road?
who will they fine?
who will they arrest?
RDCs seem so dehumanised already as if they’re just itching to get rid of drivers.
I’m surprised the really big ones haven’t got some automated system of putting trailers on bays yet.
Never. My job today, delivering to garden centres in an artic, 1st it’s a good idea to get out and speak to a human, see how to get in, what obsticals there are etc, then it’s soo damned tight, the sensors would be going balistic so the truck would come to a grinding halt.
We as ‘drivers’ do far too much more than just drive to be replaced by machines just yet.
bald bloke:
On a slightly different angle there’s a port somewhere it might be Rotterdam that has driverless straddle carriers which seem to work a treat but driverless trucks ? no.
Thamesport at Grain has those, but a human still does the last 10’ of putting it onto the truck.
Also, been to a depot years ago, can’t remember where it was, but there was loads of robot transporter type machines shifting stuff around the depot, between warehouses etc, BUT we had to give way to them, so no idea how smart they were, probably just running a simple program.
Airplanes can fly themselves, but pilots are paid a fortune to sit there and keep check, doing calculations and crap and in an emergency they take over, would we get a huge pay rise too ■■
i think there is a way that this could work. all loads will need to be in containers, they will be loaded onto trailers and pulled by a computer controlled tractor unit that runs on rails. i think i’ll go on dragons den. i’ll call it a train. 
Our Union would never stand for it, so wont happen. 
There is no question it will happen - only when. They will still need some drivers for STGO and the like but for mundane inter depot work - fully automated will be the norm.
Shunting will be the first thing - off road so no special legislation needed. When that is proved to work then… It’s just a matter of time.
The problem is a computer can never quite replace the human ability to read a situation in advance.
A prime example of this can be Automatic gearboxes, but on a smaller scale. There are places, especially around the lakes, where you know there’s a hill or a tight bend coming and so will hold off a gear change in order to give you the push up the hill. An Auto gearbox can’t do this, so will shift up, loose all revs and find itself dropping speed fast.
dew:
The problem is a computer can never quite replace the human ability to read a situation in advance.A prime example of this can be Automatic gearboxes, but on a smaller scale. There are places, especially around the lakes, where you know there’s a hill or a tight bend coming and so will hold off a gear change in order to give you the push up the hill. An Auto gearbox can’t do this, so will shift up, loose all revs and find itself dropping speed fast.
The extra fuel used would still be way less than the cost of a driver though
Santa:
There is no question it will happen - only when. They will still need some drivers for STGO and the like but for mundane inter depot work - fully automated will be the norm.Shunting will be the first thing - off road so no special legislation needed. When that is proved to work then… It’s just a matter of time.
^ +1 Yep…
Shunting will be the first to be automated, possibly within the next 50 years.
Further on next will most likely be long distance intercity trunking.
They’ll probably be implemented very slowly though with a train-driver style failsafe guy who’ll basically be employed just to put his feet up in the passenger seat unless a warning buzzer goes off for the opening decade. (If you think driving wages just now are crap… then they’ll probably be even worse 
)
Not so sure about multidrop/city work or stuff like delivering to farms etc… though, as those would involve far too many variables for a computer program or algorithm to solve safely on its own without some kind of human perception to intervene or correct it when it makes “unrealistic” decisions.
dew:
The problem is a computer can never quite replace the human ability to read a situation in advance.
This argument doesn’t really hold water when the posting of pictures and condolences to the driver of a lorry wedged into the back of another is an almost daily occurence on this forum 
It will never happen. What about when a car cuts it up and the load gets shot. What about blow outs and brake downs. Can you imagine if the engine dies on the limiter. There are more obstacles to make me think it’s impossible, than there are reasons for me to think it will.
OVLOV JAY:
It will never happen. What about when a car cuts it up and the load gets shot. What about blow outs and brake downs. Can you imagine if the engine dies on the limiter. There are more obstacles to make me think it’s impossible, than there are reasons for me to think it will.
Ahh, but that’s where you’re going wrong, you’ve applied common sense to the argument, remove all traces of that and you’ll see a different picture 
I’m still waiting for the hoverboard from back to the future. Mind you my one would need a v8 scania engine to get it off the ground.
kr79:
I’m still waiting for the hoverboard from back to the future. Mind you my one would need a v8 scania engine to get it off the ground.
I think a 12V92 with the wick turned up might struggle a bit there driver 
Il ask Geoffrey his opinion he is a fount of knowledge on such things.
Anyway I’d say you would need more than a 180 gardner to get going.