Autonomous Trucks Outpacing Self-driving Cars, Will Come To Market Sooner

Industry observers are beginning to believe that self-driving big rigs are going to win the race to mass market before self-driving cars do.

Autonomous trucks outpacing self-driving cars, will come to market sooner

Industry observers are beginning to believe that self-driving big rigs are going to win the race to mass market before self-driving cars do.

Autonomous trucks outpacing self-driving cars, will come to market sooner

Kinda doubt it . . .

Tesla Postpones Semi, . . . Again.

~ Anne ~

Yeah, I more than doubt it.......I know it isn't happening anytime soon. How many years have they been saying we're almost there?

Here's an article I wrote over 4 years ago and every word rings true today, and will for years to come:

Self Driving Trucks Are Not Coming Anytime Soon

I went to a business seminar in January 2020 and one speaker said, "In 5 years there will be no truck drivers." Well, we're 1 1/2 years into it and we haven't lost a single driver to self-driving trucks. Do you know how many drivers we'll lose to self-driving trucks over the next 3 1/2 years of his 5-year prediction?

Zero.

It's a money-making scheme is all this is. University professors and tech startups are raking in billions and billions of dollars of investments on the promise of self-driving vehicles. But without the proper infrastructure to support self-driving vehicles, it simply won't happen at a level that would cause any sort of disruption.

Remember, they have promised us technology for decades that never came true. How about the Jetsons? Does anyone remember that? Flying cars, robot maids, a tiny pill that suddenly bursts into an entire meal. We have none of it. I still wash my dishes, mow my lawn, and take my garbage to the curb the same way we did 50 years ago.

Show me a true self-driving lawnmower that is sophisticated enough to mow my lawn flawlessly, every time, no matter how many new obstacles appear or move in between mowings, and then we can begin the discussion about self-driving cars. Don't forget, that lawnmower must safely identify and avoid my pets, any obstacles in the lawn, and my property line no matter how often they may change.

Good luck with that!

diclaimer, I am a 4th year knight driver

Yeah, tell me a story. Lane departure? Adaptive cruise control? None of the automated systems on my 2021 Freightliner work like they claim to. Every time the truck in front of me exits the freeway and slows while it's on the exit ramp my ACC slams the brakes on because it thinks I'm getting too close. It can't figure out that I'd have to leave the freeway, take my truck off-road at 70 mph and execute an almost 90 degree turn while keeping the truck upright to be in any danger of hitting the other truck. (Kids, don't try this at home).

When I could use a little help, say driving through a snowstorm in Nebraska at night, my dashboard starts lighting up like a Christmas tree as one by one all these gizmos go offline when their sensors start icing over. No mention of how these trucks are going to fuel themselves, throw iron, perform pre-trip and post-trip inspections or know when to shut down because the weather it too bad. I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for the trucks to start driving themselves.

Every time the truck in front of me exits the freeway and slows while it's on the exit ramp my ACC slams the brakes on because it thinks I'm getting too close.

I got two "critical events" in a 6 minute span, while going uphill. Why? Because those giant signs on tubes that go across the whole interstate. Scared the crap out of me, just slammed the brakes on. Luckily safety took the events off me, because that would have really bummed me out, another 20k miles for something the damn truck did.