re: TESLA unveils semi truck (500 mile max range, 0-60 in 5 secs, 400 miles in 30 mins charge)

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It's going to happen but it's also decades and decades away.

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That's where we'll have to disagree. I don't think we're talking decades. For every day people to have self-driving cars probably will take decades because people like their cars, it's an investment they may not be able to make, etc.

I think that when it comes to long-haul trucking, though, the decision to go autonomous is a purely business decision, and I believe that autonomous long-haulers just have so much massive upside (no driver to pay, longer daily range, reduction in at-fault insurance claims, virtual elimination of the need for large numbers of mechanics to keep complex engines running if you're going electric, etc.) that when the technology is available, it's going to very quickly take over the industry.

Let me be clear that in this instance, I'm not talking about moving the load for the first mile or the last mile. I'm talking about picking up a load at the loading station in California and hauling it overland it to a receiving station in, say, Texas. The trip from the dock to the loading station and the trip from the receiving station to the customer would likely still require a short-haul trucker. The long overland hauls are what I'm talking about.