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Daimler has been road-testing its autonomous trucks in Nevada since May. From the BBC:
Daimler is currently seeking certification for a self-driving truck so it can be tested on public roads in Germany.
[...] "We're testing in Germany on our own proving grounds. The next step is getting real-life experience on German highways as well," [spokesman Wolfgang Bernhard] told the BBC. "We're looking to do that in the second half of the year."
Bernhard is confident Daimler will get certification within weeks. The self-driving trucks use GPS, radar and video cameras to navigate, and there's always a driver present and able to immediately retake control of the truck if needed.
Spotted on The Eponymous Pickle.
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Daimler Seeks License for Road Testing Autonomous Trucks in Germany
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2015, @12:44PM
To ensure that all possible attack vectors are available, please add WiFi access from random individuals.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2015, @02:31PM
Well, I'm sure the trucks will be internet connected so that the operating company can at all times check where the trucks are, and give them new orders if necessary. And surely that connection will come with industry-standard (read: poor) security.
Given that currently truck drivers not only drive the trucks, but also often put the stuff onto/off the truck, I wonder what their solution for the latter will be. Truck loading robots?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday July 28 2015, @05:50PM
Depends on the type of freight company. Most truckload/LTL (less than load) carriers don't unload anything. At work we don't have a loading dock so we load/unload trucks with a forklift. I sometimes operate the forklift when no one else can. When a truck rolls in with one or more skids, the driver gets his pallet jack and moves the skids to the tail of the truck/trailer so I can get the forks under it. Same in reverse for loading. If your company has a loading dock they back in, open up and let you go in with a forklift (if permitted) or pallet jack. Some drivers will help unload if their destination has no dock and the skid can be broken down and unloaded by hand. This is so they can get that stop out of the way and get home earlier. That or the client gives the driver a nice tip to help them (I know a driver who was tipped $200 to bring some multi-million dollar painting in a crate up to a Manhattan loft, uncrate it and take the crate away.) I am also sure there is liability involved where you don't want the customer inside of your trailer/truck where they can cause damage to freight or injure themselves.
LTL and parcel will be much more difficult to operate autonomously because how do you ensure the customer only removes their freight? The solution is to hire a minimum wage worker to supervise the loading/unloading and use remote CCTV monitoring to ensure the supervisors are not letting off more than they should be (meaning they can't be bribed to let that Dell box fall off the truck.) Plus, who secures the freight? Someone has to be in the truck.
If it is a delivery service, there are one or more people involved who will unload and hand move the freight to it's destination. e.g. an appliance delivery service. The delivery part can't be automated (Yet!). Perhaps they fill the truck with two minimum wage "robots" to do the heavy lifting.
My guess is if they do implement driverless trucks, large carries will be the first to implement them for inter-terminal operations. That right there can save them tens of millions in wages, reduce liability and lower insurance. My bet is there will then be a push at some point to get bigger trucks on the road like doubles/triples to move more freight with one tractor (Australia does this extensively: search for "road train"). The labor will be concentrated to local delivery operations from the terminal to the destination. Minimum wage workers can then ride along in the truck to the destination to handle the freight.