OK so how long do you think it will be untill we are all out of a job?
Or at least untill they dont need us anymore
Not long at the rate technology is moving… Autonomous trucks I believe they’re called
I suspect drone lorries will be first, able to travel specifically designed driverless lanes via lane control and radar systems, but able to be ‘piloted’ by someone in a remote control tower to reach the truly massive warehouses full of even more Chinese tat.
Doubt anyone currently driving has to worry too much about this.
Whats more concerning is something i read about recently, they’re working on a chip that can be fitted in someone’s (who’s daft enough) head able to link them directly to a receiving computer, and the drones think this is progress to be lauded.
When your great great great grandchildren get that as a compulsory insert, what will those in control do i wonder when chipped citizen thinks the wrong thought or are old and/or of no further use?
Juddian:
When your great great great grandchildren get that as a compulsory insert, what will those in control do i wonder when chipped citizen thinks the wrong thought or are old and/or of no further use?
Isn’t this the bit where some fool chips in with “if you’re not doing anything wrong you’ve nothing to be worried about”
i think in 20 years most goods will be moved by train around the uk then moved to their final destination by shunter drivers.
For truck, I am sure that the first place we will see it is in RDCs, where the reliability can be proven off-road. Container ports are another possibility.
Once it is shown to work in the yards, then it can be used for inter-depot trunking. I have my doubts as to whether it is feasible for the final delivery, except maybe for supermarkets, where the automated handling systems can be put in place.
I have delivered to car plants (notably BMW Oxford) where the entire loading/unloading process is automated and hands free. All they need to do is to automate the producer to plant part and they can dispense with drivers.
Anyone who holds up their hands in horror saying how unsafe it is should bear in mind how bad most humans are at driving. Computers need no legal breaks, make few if any mistakes, and can run continuously between maintenance downtimes. Do you think Tesco et al won’t find that attractive?
‘The driverless car’…the only reason we all need a car ,is to take people, somewhere…I think im missing the point,WTF would I wanna stay in the house and send the car ‘for a ride out somewhere’
Can’t see it happening in our lifetimes, and can only see it coming in when ALL road vehicles become automated in one hit (all at once).
Yes a computer doesn’t make mistakes, only the programmer does!
So a computer would need to be programmer to deal with all the unknowns/unpredictability of dealing with human drivers on the roads, and it would probably have a meltdown with the way most people drive! LOL
It would never be able to compute all the possible options or connotations of a situation. More than likely it will go into fail safe mode and stop in a lot of situations, as it has no common sense!
According to my mate who is very high up in the Computerised Logistics Implementation Taskforce (C.L.I.T. for short), they are already trying this in super secret test areas with one super computer each controlling a specific group of vehicles. Apparantly the compter controlling trucks is causing problems as it was put far to close to the car computer which keeps crashing and cutting the truck computer up to annoy it.
They have apparently had to install another computer (nicknamed DVSA) to sort the other computers out, but both the truck computer and car computer don’t work well with it.
They also tried a computer to control cyclists but this just kept getting in the other computers way and ignoring simple commands and generaly being a nuiscance whilst taking videos of the other computers and posting them on the internet. Luckily someone installed the ‘Tipper’ virus into the cyclist computer and it no longer switches on.
^^^^^^ LIKE. 
Dipper_Dave:
According to my mate who is very high up in the Computerised Logistics Implementation Taskforce (C.L.I.T. for short), they are already trying this in super secret test areas with one super computer each controlling a specific group of vehicles. Apparantly the compter controlling trucks is causing problems as it was put far to close to the car computer which keeps crashing and cutting the truck computer up to annoy it.
They have apparently had to install another computer (nicknamed DVSA) to sort the other computers out, but both the truck computer and car computer don’t work well with it.They also tried a computer to control cyclists but this just kept getting in the other computers way and ignoring simple commands and generaly being a nuiscance whilst taking videos of the other computers and posting them on the internet. Luckily someone installed the ‘Tipper’ virus into the cyclist computer and it no longer switches on.
LOVE IT DAVE…
20 years i reckon, rdcs on massive industrial areas close to ports, own roads straight to them, then us lot to deliver it too shops, not long after that well all be out of a job, once people see something trialed and working itll only be a matter of time before it becomes acceptable, exactly what google are doing now
As another poster has suggested, shunting tugs within RDCs will probably be the first things to get ‘automated’ & it’ll only be if they work well that we might see it progress onto the roads.
I suspect automated reversing might become a thing not too far from now, seeing as it already exists on cars. Get it lined up best you can, select the ‘target’ on your touch screen reversing camera display & let it do the rest for you. Once the reversing art gets taken out of the equation that’ll pretty much be game over for truck driving as a profession.
I read in the paper that the Highway Code is being re-written to deal with driverless cars. Bloody clever, seems not only can they drive themselves but they can read too! When they do something wrong, how do they pay the fixed penalty? And when they get up to 12 points, do they self-destruct or drive automatically to the pound?
Bernard
I think that driverless could work in RDC places ,but on the open road there are just too many variables.
Juddian:
I suspect drone lorries will be first, able to travel specifically designed driverless lanes via lane control and radar systems, but able to be ‘piloted’ by someone in a remote control tower to reach the truly massive warehouses full of even more Chinese tat.
you could be right there doooood
Juddian:
Whats more concerning is something i read about recently, they’re working on a chip that can be fitted in someone’s (who’s daft enough) head able to link them directly to a receiving computer, and the drones think this is progress to be lauded.When your great great great grandchildren get that as a compulsory insert, what will those in control do i wonder when chipped citizen thinks the wrong thought or are old and/or of no further use?
Forcing the world into slavery
Im going to have to start a thered about this you know when I get time
but its going to be a 6 page read
the maoster:
Juddian:
When your great great great grandchildren get that as a compulsory insert, what will those in control do i wonder when chipped citizen thinks the wrong thought or are old and/or of no further use?Isn’t this the bit where some fool chips in with “if you’re not doing anything wrong you’ve nothing to be worried about”
was there not a guy on hear called mick blue 
big boots:
i think in 20 years most goods will be moved by train around the uk then moved to their final destination by shunter drivers.
Yes you are spot on I would not arguee agains the way the rails moving
Santa:
make few if any mistakes, and can run continuously between maintenance downtimes.
Are you sure 
Evil8Beezle:
It would never be able to compute all the possible options or connotations of a situation. More than likely it will go into fail safe mode and stop in a lot of situations, as it has no common sense!
Well google are claiming they have done it so we will see
Well it was just a though any way
There is nothing on the roads now that is driverless, so I cant see to many wagons appearing with no drivers in my lifetime 
Anyway DVSA would go bust 
Drift:
There is nothing on the roads now that is driverless, so I cant see to many wagons appearing with no drivers in my lifetime
Anyway DVSA would go bust
not 100% driverless but pretty much. there are fords that can park themselves. and i seem to remember clarkson driving a S class merc a few years ago that when activated could deal perfectly with traffic. the hardware and software is out there. i dont think it will be long before fully automated cars are on sale.
then it will be the beginning of the end for ANY driving job
I don’t think anyone here has got anything to worry about. Look at the military’s unmanned aircraft, obscene amounts of money have been spent on the technology on these and ok, they do work, however they will never fly in British airspace and will never be used to move people due to obvious safety issues (would you get on a plane knowing the pilot was in another country working from a computer screen?) so I cant see the use of unmanned or remotely controlled vehicles to move tons of freight around public roads for a good few decades if ever, and the first place it would be used would be in a hostile setting, ie a warzone or places deemed to dangerous for humans. Personally I cant ever see tons of freight being moved around the populated areas without someone behind the wheel. However many safeguards they put in place there will still be the risk of systems crashing, leading to a potential real crash or hacking, leading to vehicles literally going missing so even if the technology does exist I cant see it ever being used.
This technology should be used at sea first.A pilot could take a tanker out and set it on course then another pilot could fetch it into port.There would be an electric fence type thing to fry any pirates.There was a plan years ago to use aerofoils ,a bit like a huge paraglider to pull the ships along and reduce fuel usage.What happened to that idea.