how does it fill up with petrol
when it breaks down hows it let someone know
when it gets a blow out what does it do
faults and that would cause even more accidents!
etc etc
lol, there will be no technology as such to keep up with the never ending list!
It’s a throw away society Josh - If something goes wrong then each rig will be fitted with a self destruct switch 
ROG:
It’s a throw away society Josh - If something goes wrong then each rig will be fitted with a self destruct switch
in that case more traffic officers to close the motorway for 6 hours while they have a brew and assess the situation…
We already have most of the technology needed - lane monitors that alert you when you stray across white lines, distance sensors to slow you down if you’re too close to the vehicle in front, engine management systems to monitor faults, tyre pressure monitors, if every vehicle on the road has GPS, they can all tell each other where they are…
Hooking up trailers could be done electronically, loading and securing could be done by the loader, diesel pumps could be operated by pump attendants (like in the US), there’d be no ■■■■■■ nicking diesel, because the truck wouldn’t need to park up - computers don’t need a break.
Imagine being told 25 years ago that we’d have sat-navs, PCs in most households, the internet - what seems totally laughable today really isn’t as fantastical as you’d think (If you go over 20mph, your head’ll turn inside out 
)
The only reason it can’t happen (for now) is the human element - it’d be a human programming the systems, pedestrians will still walk out into the road - the potential for a fatal error is massive.
I think 11 years might be a bit ambitious, but it’s certainly possible within the lifetime of a lot people here.
Joshh:
how does it fill up with petrol
when it breaks down hows it let someone know
when it gets a blow out what does it do
faults and that would cause even more accidents!
etc etc
lol, there will be no technology as such to keep up with the never ending list!
If the robot fills it with PETROL, would he get a written warning or sent to the scrap-yard without trial■■?
Euro:
On being asked by a young man about a career in driving, I replied that, along with some other professions, truck drivers will be rendered obolete by technology in the next ten to twenty years.I believe that the USA military hold an annual competition (with a big prize) to find a machine capable of driving itself across 20 (I think) Km of varied terrain. I don’t think that the prize has yet been won but there have been very creditable attempts. I also beleive that Mercedes Benz invested big bucks in developing a drone truck that could mimic the moves of a human-driven truck which travelled a short distance (cms?) in front of it.
Funny you should post this. A few days ago there was a story about it. There’s a company that developed a portable automatic driving system that was tested by the US Army in a Nissan this last week and it managed to evade their best attempts to blow it up. It can run in either automatic or be piloted from a remote location using a video feedback system. It can be quickly fitted to any vehicle. Their plan is to deploy it in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At the moment, it doesn’t cope with traffic but with companies like Mercedes etc bringing out stuff like automatic braking and automatic parallel parking systems, it won’t be long.
I will be impressed when I see a computer controlled artic reversing a truck onto a bay, unhitching and hooking up to another trl, then off out again.
It will also be amusing to see these things, when they happen, break down in the middle of the road, blocking everything, because some sensor made by Mercedes 
has had an eppy, and thrown everything out. The some fitter ? person eventually has to go out and find it and try and get it working again. Then there will be the wreckers, who is going to drive those ? Computers ?
Ok Imagine this then:
One lane of all motorways is reserved for automated traffic.
You preload your destination into the computer and set the CC as you go up the slip road. The traffic already there automatically allows you in and the sensors keep you at a safe distance from the vehicle in front. Everyone doing maybe 100kph
If anything goes wrong you are automatically sent on to the hard shoulder and the necessary people are notified to come out and rescue you.
Two miles before your exit a loud noise wakes you up and you prepare to take over again as you drive down the exit slip.
All that is quite possible with today’s technology — Yes I know there are a few problems like how does the ordinary traffic get on the motorway but that’s just detail.
Once that system is up and running then a big operator would say “why do we need a driver at all?” So you would hop out in a lay-by on the slip road and the truck would set off on its own. The next thing they would have it running between depots with the only drivers needed being shunters.
Still plenty of drivers needed to deliver to shops though? Well most shops are on retail parks by now so they would have a single unloading point and electric buggies to distribute the goods. No need for labour to unload either — the car factories already use auto load/unload systems so just adapt them.
On every trading estate you will see DHL, TNT, Palletline, Palletforce, et al. collecting and delivering every day. Create a central loading point, one contract for the whole estate, and ■■■■■ transport costs by 75%.
In the end the only truck drivers needed would be like Dingo up in the North of Scotland, specialists in heavy haulage and wrecker drivers.
Don’t think as soon as 2020 though — maybe 2050.
I think that railway trains will have to be first then after the public get used to the idea road machines could follow.Commercial aircraft have flown on automatic pilot for years.As has been said the technology is already there.
By 2020 I will be 70 years old, so it will not bother me, I will be off the road long before then, end of next month with a bit of luck…
Conor:
Euro:
On being asked by a young man about a career in driving, I replied that, along with some other professions, truck drivers will be rendered obolete by technology in the next ten to twenty years.I believe that the USA military hold an annual competition (with a big prize) to find a machine capable of driving itself across 20 (I think) Km of varied terrain. I don’t think that the prize has yet been won but there have been very creditable attempts. I also beleive that Mercedes Benz invested big bucks in developing a drone truck that could mimic the moves of a human-driven truck which travelled a short distance (cms?) in front of it.
Funny you should post this. A few days ago there was a story about it. There’s a company that developed a portable automatic driving system that was tested by the US Army in a Nissan this last week and it managed to evade their best attempts to blow it up. It can run in either automatic or be piloted from a remote location using a video feedback system. It can be quickly fitted to any vehicle. Their plan is to deploy it in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At the moment, it doesn’t cope with traffic but with companies like Mercedes etc bringing out stuff like automatic braking and automatic parallel parking systems, it won’t be long.
thats already an option in the toytoa prius and some lexus models. its really wierd letting the car park itself, your insticnt it so go for the brake pedal or grab the steering wheel as soon as it starts moving
I’m told that farmers just need to show it the field once and then they can leave the combine harvester to do the job on its own.
I’ve delivered to several warehouses where the stacking is done by robotic fork lifts.
Did I dream it or have I seen adverts for cars which can park themselves?
I remember railway union disputes where it was insisted )(abd accepted) that trains had to have a guard in the guards van even though he was obsolete. Perhaps our union (URTU me) will insist on UHGVs having a driver on board. I’m updating my prediction to 01.04.15 for the day of thefirst UHGV road trials.
they also made a car that can pararrel park, look how that turned out and you think they can do this…i dont think so, even if they could and swore by it, i cant see many haulage companies opting for that
I for one would not like to be asleep in the cab of a lorry being driven by a robot on ANY road 
Why don’t people just email everything - when they need stock etc just add an attachment and send it…easy
There is a hell of a lot of difference between the concept of a drone aircraft and a drone road vehicle. The same as automated farm machinery, its just a simple programme needed to get the combine around the field which never changes. You won’t get automated trucks on the road without a steering wheel attendant until they have created AI which is as intelligent and adaptable as a human. And once that happens it won’t be just trucks it’ll be all road traffic.
Reckitt and Colman in Hull used to have little unmanned trains running round the site, they were guided by memory and stopped if you parked or walked in front of them 
I can see a good business opportunity for these unmanned trucks.
Celebrity voice synthesizers. Who wouldn’t let a truck tip before its time if it spoke nicely like Nigella Lawson or how about a moaning groaning old ■■■■ using Janet Street Porters voice.
I can’t imagine a jumped up security guard refusing to lift the barrier if the voice was Jack Bauer.
Rick B:
I for one would not like to be asleep in the cab of a lorry being driven by a robot on ANY road
I can’t see why not, I’ve slept perfectly well in many trucks driven by me
alamcculloch:
I think that railway trains will have to be first
They already are. Automated trains are quite widespread, especially in metropolitan lines such as undergrounds.
charliebear:
Conor:
Euro:
On being asked by a young man about a career in driving, I replied that, along with some other professions, truck drivers will be rendered obolete by technology in the next ten to twenty years.I believe that the USA military hold an annual competition (with a big prize) to find a machine capable of driving itself across 20 (I think) Km of varied terrain. I don’t think that the prize has yet been won but there have been very creditable attempts. I also beleive that Mercedes Benz invested big bucks in developing a drone truck that could mimic the moves of a human-driven truck which travelled a short distance (cms?) in front of it.
Funny you should post this. A few days ago there was a story about it. There’s a company that developed a portable automatic driving system that was tested by the US Army in a Nissan this last week and it managed to evade their best attempts to blow it up. It can run in either automatic or be piloted from a remote location using a video feedback system. It can be quickly fitted to any vehicle. Their plan is to deploy it in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At the moment, it doesn’t cope with traffic but with companies like Mercedes etc bringing out stuff like automatic braking and automatic parallel parking systems, it won’t be long.
thats already an option in the toytoa prius and some lexus models. its really wierd letting the car park itself, your insticnt it so go for the brake pedal or grab the steering wheel as soon as it starts moving
Yes its an option but its a pain in the arse one,worked in sales for toyota the amount of irate customers coming back who could get it to work, it takes twice aslong to set the thing up in the right place tap the points on the screen and get it to park[if you can do it that is] than it would if you did it manually LIKE WE WERE ALL TAUGHT TO
There are some people for whom synchromesh is the spawn of the devil. Change happens whether we like it or not - the question is whether change is actually progress?