re: Self Driving Big Rig Completes 950 mile Trip 10 Hours Faster than a Human Driver

So even slower trucks on the road soon. Just hope this thing doesn’t try to pass in the left lane while maintaining its previously capped speed.

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the human operator still has to take a piss

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Well, the idea is to get rid of the human.

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As long as the truck still requires gas

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You build fueling stations for your fleet that the trucks can pull into, get topped off, then back on the road. Also, without humans on board, you can put bigger diesel tanks on the truck itself to go longer between fuelings. It doesn't need to piss, eat, sleep, etc. If you don't have to stop to piss, shite, and eat and eliminate all the space and weight associated with keeping a driver happy, you can replace that with fuel and make that truck able to go days without stopping or refueling.

Hell, if you want to get even more efficient with it, you design the fuel tanks as removable fuel cells. The truck pulls in, the attendant slides out the empty fuel cell, slides a full one from the rack in and the truck goes on its way while the attendant spends 20 or 30 minutes filling up the empty fuel cell, inspecting it, and putting it on the rack ready for the next truck. That's not likely, but I'm just saying that if you refuel 2 or 3 times across the country, that'll shave a further hour or two off the trip.

The real win here is not time, it's the drastic cutdown in accidents. This would result in:

1. Fewer fatalities and injuries
2. Fewer lawsuits
3. Lower insurance premiums (at least in theory)

(The lack of response to Lot Lizards drives hackers into their labs figuring out out routes to hijack an autonomously-controlled watermelon truck…)

A pilotless plane?

Based on the track record of the car guidance systems, they can keep that.

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If they would just get rid of the driving hour restrictions and drug test, truck drivers could easily surpass this...

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i'm embarrassed I didn't think of that....getting old.

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A pilotless plane?

Based on the track record of the car guidance systems, they can keep that.

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Have you ever flown in a commercial aircraft? If so, you have been flown by a computer. Where do you think the word “autopilot” comes from? Just like with these trucks, a pilot has to be there and will handle the takeoff and landing but most of the flying is done by computer.

So, here’s my thoughts. I have been driving and managing drivers for 25 years. You have a lead truck operated by an actual driver. Then you have a string, or train, of driverless trucks following behind. They would be “coupled” wirelessly. Programmed to follow and stop within so many feet of the truck in front of it. You would build large, dedicated off ramps outside of the major cities where the train would be separated and manually driven the last mile. This could work fairly well out west but the east coast would be pretty problematic.