They’re reinventing the 18-wheeler.
As if self-driving cars weren’t enough, self-driving semi-trucks could replace human trucks on U.S. highways, thanks to a fully self-driving truck test in Texas.
A new class of self-driving trucks will be on the road on their own without a human attendant as two leading tech companies, Aurora Innovations and Kodiak Robotics, debut fully autonomous rigs in the Lone Star State. The Washington Post reported.
Aurora, founded in 2017 by former executives from Uber, Google’s self-driving project, and Tesla, has been training driverless vehicles in Texas since 2020.
The company currently plans to operate 20 self-driving cars on the 240-mile stretch of road between Dallas and Houston, and hopes to deploy thousands of these cybernetic semiconductors within the next few years.
Kodiak Robotics, the brainchild of Uber alums and Alphabet’s Waymo, is on track to do just that, with plans to roll out robotic freight vehicles by the end of the year.
And a third company, Daimler Trucks, claims to have a fleet of driverless rigs on U.S. highways by 2027.
These dry runs could have a major impact on the future of trucking.
Self-driving trucks have the potential to revolutionize the industry by reducing travel times and eliminating the cost and physical limitations of human drivers. For example, roborig won’t fall asleep while driving.
In fact, on the outside it looks like a typical truck, with only a small sign on the back that says “Autonomous Driving Test Vehicle,” but inside, you’ll find a variety of features, including potential warnings. It is equipped with an advanced computer that runs the. Hazards with animated display of tire debris along the road, SUVs merging without signals, and other warnings.
Despite automated safety equipment, experts fear unmanned rigs could wreak havoc on highways.
Last year, there were 128 accidents involving self-driving cars in California alone. The most infamous incident involved a woman in San Francisco who was dragged 20 feet by a robotaxi.
Then scale up that incident to a 35,000 pound semi.
“Even with these small vehicles, it was a disaster,” lamented Peter Finn, vice president of Teamsters Local Union 856, which represents truck drivers. It’s absolutely scary. ”
Needless to say, trucks operated by all three aforementioned companies have been involved in accidents, but fortunately none were fatal.
There are also widespread concerns that self-driving trucks will eliminate the need for human drivers, just as automation threatens everything from manufacturing to restaurants to law.
“It’s so new I can’t believe it,” said Richard Gaskill, 50, a truck driver in Texas since 1998, as he explained the technology. “I don’t like the idea of them taking our jobs.”
Currently, 12 states, including Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada, allow driverless vehicles, but 16 states do not have clear regulations against driverless vehicles and allow self-driving rigs to drive on the road by default. There is.
The remaining 10 states, including New York, have restrictions on self-driving cars within their state borders.
Last month, New York City Mayor Eric Adams gave the green light to deploy robotaxis on city streets. The only caveat was that there was a human in the car, acting as a robot driving instructor, in case something went wrong.
