{"id":10816,"date":"2021-04-25T12:15:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-25T10:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=10816"},"modified":"2021-04-25T12:15:24","modified_gmt":"2021-04-25T10:15:24","slug":"self-driving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2021\/04\/25\/self-driving\/","title":{"rendered":"Trucking\u2019s safer, self-driving future is around the corner"},"content":{"rendered":"

The efficiency that could come with Class 8 autonomous vehicles is nearly endless. But how safe can what equates to an 80,000-lb. robot be motoring among human-controlled vehicles on the interstate?<\/p>\n

By the end of this decade, trucks powered by supercomputers will be hauling freight across the country on some of the safest roads in a century. Driver assistance technologies on commercial and passenger vehicles are more prevalent each year, creating the potential to reduce road crashes caused by human error. As artificial intelligence (AI) grows more powerful, there won\u2019t be drivers operating some commercial vehicles running on major freight corridors.<\/p>\n

The efficiency that could come with Class 8 autonomous vehicles (AVs) is nearly endless. But how safe can what equates to an 80,000-lb. robot be motoring among human-controlled vehicles on the interstate? That is a question that Ariel Wolf, general counsel for the Self-Driving Coalition<\/a>, welcomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing I try to emphasize is the baseline,\u201d Wolf told FleetOwner<\/i>. \u201cWhat\u2019s the baseline today? We\u2019ve accepted \u2014 because we have no alternative \u2014 the level of death and destruction that occurs on the roads today. It\u2019s just something we\u2019ve grown accustomed to. It\u2019s not just the 36,000, 37,000 deaths; it\u2019s the 4 million injuries. People walk away with lifetime permanent injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least 31,000 people have been killed each year in U.S. motor vehicle crashes since the end of World War II, according to the National Safety Council<\/a>. \u201cThe conversation should be built on that baseline,\u201d Wolf said. \u201cPeople just end up jumping to the question: Is the technology safe or not? I think we know the technology will make the roads safer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we address the important questions that come with new technology, particularly in the transportation sector,\u201d he continued, \u201cwe need to look at what it is we are living with today. And then ask ourselves \u2014 given all these questions and all these important issues that we\u2019re raising \u2014 will the deployment of this technology make us safer, more mobile, more efficient going forward? I think the answer is a clear \u2018yes\u2019 when it\u2019s framed that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/span><\/p>\n

A Kodiak Robotics truck, which is controlled on-highway by artificial intelligence, hauls freight in Texas.<\/span>Photo: Kodiak Robotics<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018No longer conceptual\u2019 <\/span><\/h3>\n

Right now, AVs are in the \u201ccrawl, walk, run approach,\u201d said Richard Beyer, vice president of engineering and R&D at Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems<\/a>. \u201cYou\u2019re starting with the easier types of traffic like divided highways in areas where you don\u2019t have too much crazy weather.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

This is why the Southwestern U.S. was fertile ground for nascent commercial AV testing last decade. But the testing of self-driving commercial and passenger vehicles has expanded into the more temperate climates<\/a> of the Midwest and East Coast in recent years. On public roads, divided highways offer the most potential for commercial vehicles. And it\u2019s not just testing. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s certainly no longer conceptual,\u201d said Daniel Goff, head of policy for Kodiak Robotics<\/a>, an autonomous technology company focused on long-haul trucking. \u201cWe deliver freight every day for customers \u2014 real paying customers. That\u2019s really exciting. People don\u2019t necessarily realize that their latest iPhone might have been delivered by an autonomous truck.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Those self-driving Kodiak trucks still have a human behind the wheel to monitor the vehicle, just in case. But they are setting the foundation for America\u2019s driverless future.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike a self-driving passenger car, autonomous trucks don\u2019t need to be capable of handling highways and surface streets. \u201cOur model is a highway-focus model,\u201d Goff told FleetOwner. \u201cOur view of the technology is that you need to optimize for either highway driving or surface street driving. They are just very different applications.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most significant risks on surface streets for AI-driven vehicles is people doing unexpected things, such as a child chasing a ball into the street. It\u2019s one of the few areas where humans still have an advantage over those AI-powered supercomputers. \u201cPeople are pretty good at the unexpected,\u201d Goff noted. \u201cComputers and robots have a really hard time with the unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Divided highways are a different challenge. Self-driving long-haul trucks are more focused on seeing far enough down the road to be prepared \u201cto stop an 80,000-lb. vehicle if something happens,\u201d Goff said. \u201cLong-range perception is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Getty<\/span><\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Long-range view<\/h3>\n

That long-range view isn\u2019t just about the lidar, radar, video, and other technologies that power the AI controlling autonomous trucks. Developers and OEMs are counting on AI to help keep supply chains secure as the trucking industry faces a growing driver shortage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s easy about the commercial vehicle piece of the equation when we talk about automated driving is the benefit is huge for transportation,\u201d Bendix\u2019s Beyer told FleetOwner. \u201cThere is already a shortage of drivers today. When you don\u2019t have enough drivers, that means there are loads not being delivered because you can\u2019t deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking away those human burdens \u2014 such as hours of service limitations<\/a> \u2014 could be one of the significant benefits of automation, Beyer noted. Even with drivers still in the cabs of AVs, they could rest or do other work as the trucks roll autonomously across the country. \u201cThat efficiency gain would be a big benefit to the fleet moving goods,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe total cost of ownership and the payback for autonomy is ripe,\u201d Beyer said. \u201cThere is a big payback for commercial vehicles. Finding that sweet spot is what\u2019s driving a lot of development. For the startups that were originally looking at passenger cars and robo-taxis \u2014 those are coming too \u2014 the payback is longer out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith commercial vehicles, if you look at the miles moving goods on divided highways in North America, there are a lot of miles that artificial intelligence could really bolster and help move goods through those corridors. This would have a significant payback even though you can\u2019t cover every single street in the U.S.,\u201d Beyer added.<\/p>\n

A dashcam video on Kodiak\u2019s website shows entirely human-disengaged runs back and forth between Dallas and Houston on Interstate 45. The video includes all 829 miles of driving over 13 hours and 11 minutes at 10-times speed and shows the Kodiak truck hanging out in the right lane of I-45 unless it has to move over for traffic entering the highway.<\/p>\n