Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/757641
VOICES 8 | Overdrive | December 2016 I read an article from the Alaska Dispatch News in October about robots replacing 1.7 million truckers in 10 years. This is about the 400th such article I've read. Apparently, the people designing these autonomous vehicles and proselytizing their immi- nent global takeover never have been on an American highway or used brain power for anything other than putting the wagon before the wheel. The article quoted Jerry Kaplan, author of "Humans Need Not Apply": "Long-haul truck driving is a great example where there isn't much judgment involved and it's a fairly controlled environment." Hold up. Mr. Kaplan, I'd be thrilled if you could show me how your robot is go- ing to fi nd "Death Row Parking" on the south side of Nashville, Tennes- see, when it doesn't really exist and is actually a plywood sign instead of a delivery address. I'd like to be enlight- ened as to how the Chicago freeway loop is in any way "controlled," and if it is, I'd like to respectfully request the controller be relieved of all duties because he is clearly evil. What's that? Oh, you mean you're going to run autonomous vehicles only on open highways? Oh, I get it. So all these warehouses that people don't want built on the exit ramp to their cities now are going to magically appear when that happens? A robot can't do the job of a professional driver because it would have to operate in an absolutely uncontrolled environment. Saying otherwise is like saying it's OK to let 3-year-olds toddle around in an industrial printing press because there are professionals running the press, and that makes it a controlled environment. It is not so. You can't make it so until you take the Joe Blow commut- er/vacationer/cell phone-distracted/ drunk/inexperienced driver out of the professional driving equation. (Side note: There are these people called "law enforcement" who have been trying to do that for years, but it's an uphill battle.) Mr. Kaplan, consider doing a ridealong with one of us for a month. I'd like you to understand that there are far more achievable and effi cient ways to move freight, and none have to do with driving the trucks. They have to do with tasking the entire sys- tem to be accountable for times and appointments. It's really that simple. Wendy Parker chronicles her journey on the road with her owner-operator husband, George, in the George and Wendy Show blog on OverdriveOnline.com. Scan the QR to read more from her on your phone or tablet. Robot trucks unsuited for highway chaos " I do wonder how a computer will make the decision to hit a busload of kids or … drive head- on into another truck should a collision be imminent. The FMCSA vision of zero fatalities is a pipe dream. A chicken farmer has what is called 'acceptable losses,' and the military calls it 'collateral damage.' As unfortunate as it is, some people will die so that oth- ers can live. … When we get into the seat of any motor vehicle, we take our chances [on whether] we will be injured or killed. " — Tagas, via comments at OverdriveOnline.com Urban traffic is not a "controlled environment," regardless of what experts say.