[John]

That’s awesome

[Andy]

Maybe true Andy… Probably true, and I for one am no fan! This old world just keeps spinning around and we have all seen some incredible new developments in our time. The iPhone I’m using for this post is one of them.

But all this stuff I’m not sure is one of them. Learning to drive, getting a license, filling the tank and yes learning to change a tire are, let’s say, rights of passage! But this sitting in the car reading a paperback by Jules Verne’s, slopping down a shake, nibbling on fries and taking copious bites of a Big Mac, all while going 70 miles an hour in my driverless car. To that I say nuts!

I use to own a seafood company in Tampa and met many drivers of 18 wheelers. To the person they were great people who would help and tell some of the greatest stories about their time on the road. Now we’re talking about putting them out of business, closing the restaurants where they eat and robbing them of their livelihoods and that of their family’s. Techno freaks (of which I’m one) applaud this grand technology and I get it. But I for one would like to cast my vote as a naysayer… Just because it’s available doesn’t mean it’s good or right, or what we should do!

We are all going to have to face the technology curve in many different areas and I hope there are people and companies who will take a look and say “No I don’t think so”! I wonder if a driverless 18 wheeler will answer me on a CB and tell me the next exit where I can get help or a good restaurant he likes? I think not. And for those who don’t know, truckers know where the good food is.

Sorry for the rant. I still drive a 2004 Chevy Trail Blazer. Why you ask? Because it’s always taken me where I’ve wanted to go in comfort. And guess what… Without even a touchscreen panel! The newest and the greatest, the brightest and the shiniest ain’t necessary the best direction to take!

Harry

[Archived]

I wonder if a driverless 18 wheeler will answer me on a CB and tell me the next exit where I can get help or a good restaurant he likes? I think not. And for those who don’t know, truckers know where the good food is.

Since this technology, at least at it’s current state, will require to have a driver behind the wheel, I’ll say that you’ll probably still be able to get restaurant recommendations on the road as the driver will have plenty of time to assist kind tourists such as yourself!

[Mark]

Well said Andy, but know you get my point.

[Bernie]

Harry, your stock just went up with me.

There are a few of us on here who owned medium to large trucking companies and it’s a shame what it’s turned into. We talk about truckers now in the same sentence as a lawyer or a congressman with no education. Doing nothing but getting in the way of where your going.

I honestly don’t know where and when it all changed, did people really feel about me back then as they do now about truckers and I was to stupid to know it.

Trucking has been good to me and others on here, most people that trash em don’t know shit about it.

Not that many will care but I’ll give you my little list that I think about and miss before all the trucks I’ve owned and I turned into a (do i dare say an executive).

The cackle of a Cat engine

A 2 stick bitch.

A puff of black smoke when I’m grabbing a gear.

Chicken trucks.

Getting across Texas in the dark.

Enough lights and chrome to stop you in your tracks.

2 train horns.

The little bar west of the Pecos.

Running across this country and seeing old friends and trucking with’em all night.

And the waitress at the Triple TTT who would see me leading a herd a trucks in the middle of the night to get fuel and order my bacon and egg on white toast to go. Have the pot of coffee in her hand to fill my thermos and smile at me and hand me my bag to go and tell me, you look like hell, go to bed.

I never knew her name.

I’m glad I won’t be around for the Gurus dream.

Guru do me a favor next time your doing one of those how to drive a Prevost or that old coach you have. Don’t wrap your thumbs around the steering, if you ever blew a tire it would be ugly.

I’ve said enough for a year, Truk already told me to F.O. in an email and BA asked if I was sick.

Later

bv

[Ronald]

Let’s start a conversation with facts and not emotions. I get sick of the BS about these driverless vehicles being developed for safety reasons.

When folks started driving (and records were kept) in 1921 there were 21 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles driven. That number has been declining and by 1988 there were 2.32 fatalities per 100 million miles driven. In the ensuing 30 years that number has fallen to 1.16 fatalities per 100 million miles driven. Keep the drunks and druggies and cell phone users off the roads and those low numbers will drop to almost nothing.

And not a single computer controlled vehicle contributed to the gains in the safety of our roads or the cars currently being sold.

Do we have a parallel to what is unfolding with driverless cars and trucks? Yes. Aviation. For several decades the commercial planes such as the Boeing and Airbus aircraft have been push button planes and pilots might actually have hands on control for a few minutes. The rest of the flight, including the landing in some instances is conducted by the pilot providing the aircraft with data such as assigned altitude, airspeed, waypoints, etc. Aviation is safe, very safe, but by keeping the pilot’s hands off the yoke the pilots were (are) losing skills needed when the computers puked.

The two latest 737 accidents are the most recent examples, but do a search about Airbus fatal accidents and you will quickly see technology is going to lead to a situation where drivers will begin losing basic skills and the trend toward continuing safety improvements will stall.

We are not going to escape technology. People who are going to get hurt the most by it are the ones forcing it. If you cannot get enough employees to do the needed work, machines will be developed. If employees price themselves out of the market such as we are seeing with minimum wage fast food jobs, we are going to end up with a computerized McDonalds taking orders at a kiosk, which starts the process of building and wrapping the sandwich and sliding it down a chute into the customers hands.

Can’t get enough drivers? Buy a computerised truck, but understand instead of poorly trained marginal drivers to deal with you get to deal with a computer technician who will eventually be replaced with a computer with artificial intelligence.

[Dick]

and training.

I did not own a trucking company. Instead, Gabi and I owned a shipping/logistics/customs brokerage business. We dealt with a lot of truckers over the years.

The older ones knew their stuff and handled themselves like they were professionals (which they were). Many of the younger ones could not care less about driving a truck today and work in a warehouse, tomorrow. It was all about the almighty $$$. It showed in their appearance and how they conducted themselves.

When I learned to drive in Germany, I had to be 18 years old, I had to take a minimum of 20 driving lessons hours and all done on a stick shift. There was no automatic option. Some of that driving had to be done at high speed on the Autobahn and a couple of hours during night time/darkness. But mostly in and around town to get used to dealing with the traffic.

Then, I had to take a written exam and this was followed by a driving test that had me do all sorts of twists and turns and parking this way and that way.

I received an education.

The education list goes on and on and on and I could turn this into a rant about things that „I had to do when I was your age“ and about this thing having to walk „uphilll both ways“.

But I can also tell you that there was no school bus and that I had to bike to school every day. A distance of about 10 miles, each way.

Times have changed and so have people and attitudes.

Cheers,

Ronald

[Harry]

Damn I’m impressed, longest post from Bernie since day one, cool…

Technology is coming, driver, I hate it too as an old trucker, but it’s coming anyway.

Remember, Chrome don’t get ya home…..

[Andy]

Thanks Jon, your perspective as a driver and pilot puts things well into perspective. It comes down to reasonable balance doesn’t it? Great to have auto this and auto that but when the plane is hit with lightening and something in the avionics goes wrong. You want an experienced pilot at the yoke. And that’s no yoke!

And Bernie you put it into full perspective when you said…

And the waitress at the Triple who would see me leading a herd a trucks in the middle of the night to get fuel and order my bacon and egg on white toast to go. Have the pot of coffee in her hand to fill my thermos and smile at me and hand me my bag to go and tell me, you look like hell, go to bed.

You don’t know her name but you remember the kindness and will never forget it and so many other things. Try that with a fast food automated robot. Emotion does play a part and always will. When I went to the maintenance seminar at Jeff’s I didn’t fall in love with the buses. I fell in love with the people.

Lets just be real careful when we decide to turn our lives over to automation. It all comes with a price. Just ask Tom about his blowup Fara Faucet doll. Woo-doggies!

Harry

[al]

Yes but 3406 sure would

Later

bv

[Andy]

Keep the drunks and druggies and cell phone users off the roads and those low numbers will drop to almost nothing.

I agree, but since that’s not happening, what’s the solution? How about vehicles that can react to changing conditions faster than a human?

And not a single computer controlled vehicle contributed to the gains in the safety of our roads or the cars currently being sold.

Emergency braking/collision avoidance systems have already proven to reduce traffic fatalities. This feature will be on nearly all new cars by 2022.

Here’s an interesting read: Consumer Reports

[Craig]

Hi Andy, I get from your posts that you are a fan of hands free cars and trucks. Out of curiosity Why?

Harry

[Dennis]

I get from your posts that you are a fan of hands free cars and trucks. Out of curiosity Why?

Good question Harry and I’ll attempt to provide an honest and brief opinion. However, understand there’s various levels of this type of technology. For example, autonomous and semi autonomous vehicles are quite different. There’s already semi autonomous vehicles on the road today with a varying degree of features. Quite a few additional models will appear within the next 12 months.

1) Distracted driving is out of control. I feel it’s easier to make a smart vehicle than it is to educate drivers.

2) As we get older, our reflexes slow. Having features that can make braking and steering decisions that take into consideration not only current but future conditions is a good thing in my book.

What is a future condition? Instead of reacting to only the actions of the vehicle directly in front, some systems can already see around that vehicle and know when the one in front of that one makes a sudden move.

3) I absolutely see the value of a vehicle that can drive itself should the driver doze off while behind the wheel. I also see the value of vehicles that don’t enter the wrong lane on a ramp nor drift into oncoming traffic.

When you look at the video posted at the top of this thread and see how that semi navigates around the construction zone, I think you can see this technology has dramatically increased just over the past couple of years. While pucker moments give us something to talk about, imagine if those moments were greatly reduced?

One more thing, since the RV industry has done such a great job in encouraging many States not to enact legislation that forces RV owners to become trained and licensed before purchasing a large motorhome, I can’t think of a safer move than to make smarter motorhomes.

How’s that Harry?

P.S. I hope you don’t ask me to tell you my opinion about electric motorhomes in this thread as I’ll prefer to save that discussion for another day.

Check out what Frank Konigseder of Liberty Coach has to say about these topics:

[Bernie]

For now though, it’s all sunny day stuff. Add in a little snow, ice, rain, or fog and these systems shutdown. We’re way far from true automatic pilot, but I agree with Andy in that driving aids are more than welcome.

[Mark]

The problem with all this stuff is it seems the people pushing it have no street creed, no bonafide, all theory.

Didn’t know a Newall from a Bulldozer a couple years ago.

Just a theory of mine, what happens when a pheasant or a bird takes out a camera or 2 in the middle of the night.

Later

bv