raymundo:
I din’t think I would ■■■■ to be sitting in a fully driverless truck just in case owt went wrong !!
Well you wouldn’t be, would ya? Duh! 
Harry Monk:
TiredAndEmotional:
Big Joe105:
Good comments there. The amount of investment that would be required to accommodate autonomous trucks in the UK would be too high. There would be no profitable returns.Are you forgetting that many trucks are on the road 24/7 ? Take the example of a company working a 4 on 4 off system night and day. That’s 4 drivers @ £25k pa for arguments sake. £100k of savings straight off the bat! The technology is not expensive these days it’s all in the sky now. It really just needs somebody to make the first move and to risk the wrath of public opinion. How highly do you think Joe public rates truck drivers? I’m a truck driver and I don’t rate most I see on the roads each day.
And the other thing is that the cost of the technology involved in development would be offset by the fact that a driverless truck won’t need a heated air-sprung seat, or a bed, or a cd player, or a heater, or a night heater or windscreen wipers, or interior trim, or doors etc etc etc so cabs will be far cheaper to build. Little more than a chassis and driveline with a plastic box on it to keep the rain out.
Excellent point Harry!
raymundo:
I din’t think I would ■■■■ to be sitting in a fully driverless truck just in case owt went wrong !!
theguardian.com/technology/2 … p-disaster
While assuming GPS control is going to be a major part of autonomous vehicles why is it that even GPS based speedometers are so far illegal.Oh wait there’s no signal under tunnels and bridges etc and gradients affect their accuracy.
Check the accident statistics that driverless cars have been involved in. Driverless trucks will not happen.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
90% of trucks will be better controlled when driverless!
Good thing about it less flip flops= more parking ,how they gona send a wagon over here for two weeks do a load of work then go home. Intresting
Williams9881:
Check the accident statistics that driverless cars have been involved in. Driverless trucks will not happen.
The first ever death in an autonomous car happened in May this year, the US road safety administration revealed yesterday. A man was killed after his Tesla, operating in Autopilot mode, hit an articulated lorry. The accident has cast doubt over the safety of the technology, but the baby should not be thrown out with the bathwater, say experts.
Joshua Brown was driving along a Florida highway in a Tesla Model S that had been switched to Autopilot mode, when a lorry joined the road from a cross street. Unable to distinguish the white truck against the brightly lit sky, the self-driving system failed to apply the brakes.
In a press release, Tesla said the incident was a tragic loss, but noted that it was the first fatality in 130 million miles of Autopilot driving. The company compared that to regular driving, which incurs one fatality per 94 million miles in the US.
‘‘In a press release, Tesla said the incident was a tragic loss, but noted that it was the first fatality in 130 million miles of Autopilot driving. The company compared that to regular driving, which incurs one fatality per 94 million miles in the US.’’
Careful use of words form them there, wonder how many minor or major accidents there have been which have left the victims anything from bruised to comatose.
I suspect we’re safe for another generation or three.
The jobs in this automation malarkey are no different to the ones in the made up global warming scam, self perpetuating and hostile to any naysayers.
I’m not naive enough to dismiss the automatisation of driving, but I think the biggest obstacle to be overcome is the issue of blame.
Assuming the eventual aim is to get rid of drivers, who then gets the blame when there is a computer malfunction/hacking incident and somebody (a pedestrian, cyclist, occupant of another driverless vehicle) is killed/seriously injured? Surely, the buck then has to stop with the developers & manufacturers of the computer systems? Potential minefield.
The future arrived in the UK about 20 years ahead of in the USA LOL. My modern truck which is a Cascadia has a dashboard very similar to the FH12 I drove in 1994 and the gearbox is a Fuller road ranger which became extinct in Europe in the 90’s LOL.
We also have not invented air suspension that lifts the trailers yet either and if I tell people here about such things they think I am joking, night heaters and a 24v system would not be unwelcome either LOL.
I think that a live driver will always have to be present.Commercial aircraft have had auto pilot for years but they still fly with 2 pilots.Shipping could easily be controlled remotely but its not likely to happen either.
Tomorrow
alamcculloch:
I think that a live driver will always have to be present.Commercial aircraft have had auto pilot for years but they still fly with 2 pilots.Shipping could easily be controlled remotely but its not likely to happen either.
^^^^^ that.
Harry Monk:
Olog Hai:
Automated trucks will come to yard shunting/dock spotting operations sooner than anything else because it is hardly the most demanding of jobs. All you need is someone opening and closing doors and maybe winding legs up and down, because if a truck can drive itself then it can certainly release fifth wheels and pop shunt buttons itself.Personally I think the first use for driverless trucks will be Stobart Carlisle-Crick interdepot trunks and the like.
Only if they invent the ‘roadworks free’ motorway first… 
the nodding donkey:
Harry Monk:
Olog Hai:
Automated trucks will come to yard shunting/dock spotting operations sooner than anything else because it is hardly the most demanding of jobs. All you need is someone opening and closing doors and maybe winding legs up and down, because if a truck can drive itself then it can certainly release fifth wheels and pop shunt buttons itself.Personally I think the first use for driverless trucks will be Stobart Carlisle-Crick interdepot trunks and the like.
Only if they invent the ‘roadworks free’ motorway first…
Closely followed by ’ bridgeless routes ’ …
eagerbeaver:
Closely followed by ’ bridgeless routes ’ …
D’ya fink he’ll bite? 
TiredAndEmotional:
eagerbeaver:
Closely followed by ’ bridgeless routes ’ …D’ya fink he’ll bite?
That depends whether you’ve used a metric or imperial hook…
Juddian:
‘‘In a press release, Tesla said the incident was a tragic loss, but noted that it was the first fatality in 130 million miles of Autopilot driving. The company compared that to regular driving, which incurs one fatality per 94 million miles in the US.’’Careful use of words form them there, wonder how many minor or major accidents there have been which have left the victims anything from bruised to comatose.
I suspect we’re safe for another generation or three.
The jobs in this automation malarkey are no different to the ones in the made up global warming scam, self perpetuating and hostile to any naysayers.
Perhaps it would be better to measure “Harm” in terms of “lost time at work”?
Two hours in the first aid room.
5 hour round trip to casualty, including the triage wait…
Overnight for observation after a head-banging session…
A week im Krankenhaus Duffed in the guts by a pallet of chips via the pump truck handle, and having your appendix/spleen/gall bladder out
A year off on half pay having been cut in half by a vehicle backing onto a bay
Six feet under in a box with the “death in service benefit payment” at the management discretion rather than automatic, and made in time for the funeral…
I suggest using “one hour units”. 
eagerbeaver:
the nodding donkey:
Harry Monk:
Olog Hai:
Automated trucks will come to yard shunting/dock spotting operations sooner than anything else because it is hardly the most demanding of jobs. All you need is someone opening and closing doors and maybe winding legs up and down, because if a truck can drive itself then it can certainly release fifth wheels and pop shunt buttons itself.Personally I think the first use for driverless trucks will be Stobart Carlisle-Crick interdepot trunks and the like.
Only if they invent the ‘roadworks free’ motorway first…
Closely followed by ’ bridgeless routes ’ …
…Not forgetting “No managed motorways”… How does a robot vehicle doing 50mph in lane 1 get around the sudden breakdown in front of you? 
Unless Winseer writes the computer code to “stay in lane 2” of course. 
rob22888:
I’m not naive enough to dismiss the automatisation of driving, but I think the biggest obstacle to be overcome is the issue of blame.Assuming the eventual aim is to get rid of drivers, who then gets the blame when there is a computer malfunction/hacking incident and somebody (a pedestrian, cyclist, occupant of another driverless vehicle) is killed/seriously injured? Surely, the buck then has to stop with the developers & manufacturers of the computer systems? Potential minefield.
out-law.com/en/articles/201 … less-cars/
Already in place.