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Trucking seems like a great career, especially compared to the job field I put up with now—getting paid to travel, extended time in a cool truck, getting 14 hours a day to drive, the potential to team drive hazmat and take home a lot of money (especially if you are married to your team mate), ect.
However, with the rise of self-driving big rigs, I sense this field’s days are numbered. Do you think truck drivers will exist at least another 15 years? If so, I will dip into this career. If not, I’ll just give into my mothers constant proddings to get a masters of social work or do an alternate certification into teaching, though neither of those seem like particularly good fits (however, both social work and teaching beat the pants off pharmacy tech, which I’ve done for 5 years and hate and am bad at).
I hope we know what we are doing. Putting computers in charge of big rigs sounds dumb and unsafe. Half the time my computer at work crashes. If a big rig crashes, innocent people die. This Elon Musk guy is starting to sound like real menace, maybe even a Dr. Evil kind of guy.
I am not confident that automated trucks are going to be taking over soon from human drivers. It is one thing to automate factory or office jobs in a controlled environment, but many things can go wrong on the road. I can just see these automated trucks causing all sorts of accidents or lying at the bottom of some icy ditch with their wheels spinning. Don't get me wrong, driverless vehicles will become the norm. I just think that you could still have a trucker career before it becomes automated.
The people shouting automation argue human error often. Who programs these things, humans or robots?
I have a Roomba vaccum and the sensors malfunction from use over the years. Plus hacking. I know this stuff is being pushed down our throats so it will happen eventually. Become a politician. A job that will never be automated.
I hope we know what we are doing. Putting computers in charge of big rigs sounds dumb and unsafe. Half the time my computer at work crashes. If a big rig crashes, innocent people die. This Elon Musk guy is starting to sound like real menace, maybe even a Dr. Evil kind of guy.
That's ridiculously specious "reasoning". It's rather like what people have said about emerging technology for over a hundred years. Yet we have successfully used computer-controlled automobile engine components, automated teller machines, airline avionics systems, and so on.
That ridiculously specious argument relies on the hope that the listener will think only about the nonsensical scenario of putting self-driving trucks in place on Day 1. It ignores the logical progression, which incidentally started years ago with computer tracking of truck fleets. Logical next steps include tracking of more and more aspects of the vehicle systems. Perhaps they will add computer-assisted operations, such as anti-collision systems providing additional safety even with human drivers. Perhaps, just like in aircraft, they will utilize human supervised "auto-pilot" before proceeding onto true auto-pilot. That'll lead to relaxation of time restrictions on human drivers, so fewer drivers will be needed overall. Perhaps they will install guide wires in certain highways to facilitate automated trucks. And on from there.
And in a way this kind of silly argument against technology ends up fostering somewhat unchecked deployment of technology: Since the nonsense gets all the attention (because it plays off irrational fear, uncertainty and doubt) truly valid arguments are drowned out. All people hear is the irrational and the easy rebuttals of the irrational, and they never hear the arguments grounded in the impact on the labor pool, on the availability of living wage jobs in the economy, and so forth - things where real harm can be demonstrated and not casually cast aside as nonsense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MLSFan
How's that different than a non-automated truck?
Precisely. In terms of safety, it doesn't matter if automated trucks aren't 100% safe. All that truly matters is whether they are as safe as the status quo non-automated trucks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Creature of the Wheel
Somebody still has to be there to correct the automated machine's mistakes and to unload the freight since it's not going to unload itself.
The point is that it will be fewer people, and the people left, dominated in number by those "to unload the freight", will have generally lower skilled (and therefore lower-paying) jobs than the displaced drivers.
I'll bet we see self-driving trucks on the interstates within about 5 years.
At first they'll likely just travel at night along the interstate system and terminate their run at a depot in the target city. Humans will take the load from there on another truck and do the deliveries just as they do it now.
Over time, as the system gains more experience, the robot trucks will expand their routes.
I'll bet we see self-driving trucks on the interstates within about 5 years.
It would be interesting to research how long it was from the first serious rantings against multiple trailer trucks and when they started appearing on the nation's highways.
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