Driver-less Semi Trucks have started.
 

Aurora trucks started driving between Houston and Dallas yesterday.
Will be interesting to see how this works out.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/transportation/articles/first-driverless-semis-started-running-213139083.html

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/v2...4460e2c66f1fb8


.

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I wonder if the truck stops will have a 'full service lane' to fill the fuel tanks when needed?

AI is creating a chapter in the Teamsters.

If I were driving I-45...I'd be on the look-out for them. :eek:

I'm all in on being their Union Steward.
Grievances for terabytes and latency.

If you notice in the photo above, the top of the cab has arms coming off of it to the sides. Yesterday on the way home I passed a truck that had those. I realized that they were for cameras or sensors and thought "huh, that's new. Does the guy inside have screens that allows him to see what those see?" The truth is even more fantastic. I wonder if they are running with a dude sitting there as part of a trial or something.

LOL! We need more bandwidth! We need more memory! We need more CPU!

Yeah, I didn't notice those earlier.
A pic from inside of one of the Aurora Semi's as it's rolling.

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Hr...696ee895d18c99

The truck that I passed yesterday looked relatively ordinary except there were obvious appendages/wings at the top of the cab that clearly had cameras/sensors.

I wish I'd realized. I'd have taken a closer look.

^^^ It's hard to read...but the truck is doing 50 or 59 mph in the above pic.

It'd be cool if they'd stick to the middle lanes.

(speedo says 59)

If the truck has no driver does the driver have to speak English?

https://www.wlbt.com/2025/04/30/trump-signs-executive-order-requiring-truck-drivers-speak-english/

I wonder if they're programmed to pass each other on 95 but only at 1-2 mph faster than the other truck? Also when three lanes are present I wonder if they're programmed to occupy all three, side by side, for as long as possible? What about the piss jugs? Who will throw the piss jugs all over every rest stop, off ramp or vacant parking lot from coast to coast?

Just keep your eyes peeled, the trucks are learning...

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call me crazy but I just see dead bodies everywhere

^ Nothing to fear...

We have thousands of trucks with brainless drivers, so this is likely a step up. So many truckers are just really bad drivers, and seem to hate the job.

We all have been stuck behind two trucks blocking the road and the one in the passing lane is incapable of pulling off the pass in less that 10 miles. I have been run off the road once, and only the shoulder kept me from getting crushed.

In St. Louis the interchanges are nuts, and one semi decided he needed my lane to go where he was going. I had a split second to decide to be dead right, or change lanes and go to the wrong state. I figured the wrong state, and a long turnaround was better.

[QUOTE=Gogar;12457851]call me crazy but I just see dead bodies everywhere[/QUOTE
]

It'll be like Michigan in the spring...ditches full of carcasses. Mostly deer here though.
Biking two days ago...I counted 12 rib cages sticking up within 10 miles.

~3days/wk, I commute ~84miles each way into Houston on I-10. I leave the house at about 445am. I get home between 1230 and 2 depending upon meetings and if I stop at the grocery store.

In the mornings when I'm driving, the truckers are pretty good. I've had truckers that started trying to pass another truck back off and move over to allow me to pass.

Remember these are computers, so they can be programmed to pass at 0.5mph, or 0.2mph or whatever the programmers can dream up. LOL

Yeah, I'm sure they'll end up 3 abreast. I see that every day.

If they're loaded down...it takes a long while to get more speed, especially if they were drafting behind another semi.

Some take their time...others can't do any better. Also fuel costs figure in. Very few do it on purpose.

[QUOTE=john70t;12457883]Who do you sue if there is an accident? Medical costs are rising.
Mfr or Operator?


No idea...I would think laws are in place right now.
I feel sorry for the truckers...Amazon will prob be next.

I would not bet on it. I'm happy to be wrong, but I suspect laws are behind the times when new tech pops up. I suspect other than some of the big laws, that the needed laws were not in the books when anyone and everyone could buy a drone with a camera (I suspect they still aren't in place everywhere).

I suspect laws for self-driving stuff is also lagging. There may be some, but I suspect there needs to be more.

OK, I understand driverless. But who's going to throw the bottle of urine out the window.

The truckers choice here are plastic zip-loc bags.:)

.

How do you piss in a baggie while driving?!

Don't know the details...I've never tried it. (prob the same way as a bottle.:))
I do know a couple OTR drivers and they said they use the bags all the time...and a bottle for their chew.

.

Frankly, they scare me. OTOH, human truck drivers cause a lot of problems on the road. So maybe it’s a wash.

Who changes a tire when they come apart on the road? Do they even know?

tpms?

The remake of Smoky and the Bandit just won't be the same.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1746283840.jpg

So they have yet to fully automate rail traffic yet they want to allow huge trucks without drivers on public roads?! Not going to end well.

Will the 'lot lizards' be eligible for unemployment compensation? :)

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The world is small.

Years ago, a fellow posted in the PP 911 Forum about a 911 in parts he had bought locally.

At the time he was working for Uber, having joined them after Uber bought a truck AV company called Otto. He was an early employee of Otto.

Otto had been hatched by a former Alphabet (Google) employee that was involved in their AV technology biz.

I got to meet this fellow.

At the time he was a major witness in the civil lawsuit between Alphabet and Uber, related to Uber/Otto and trade secrets.

In any case, there's plenty more to come with AV technology and deployment for trucking.

Plenty.

Every time I pass a semi on the expressway now....i'm going to be looking up to see if there's a driver.:)

Same here

piled up next to the unemployment line

Do the driverless rigs still get on the CB late at night and say "I ain't got no panties on" and then another reply "shut up stupid"?