SHIPPING companies and software developers are experimenting with self-driving trucks as a way to solve a driver shortage due to the Covid crisis, drawing concerns from safety advocates who call the technology a risk, reports Bloomberg.
JB Hunt Transport Services, Uber Technologies' freight division, and FedEx are among the operators testing automated big rigs as a lack of drivers have caused ports to back up and intensified the supply-chain squeeze gripping the us economy.
'Human drivers, by our nature, have to eat, sleep and take breaks,' said Aurora Innovation co-founder Sterling Anderson.
'What that leads to is enormous underutilisation of these trucks and much slower movement of goods.'
The push to get driverless trucks comes amid safety concerns while the pace of development has delayed the adoption of fully autonomous passenger vehicles.
Tesla has come the closest with its autopilot feature but is the subject of a probe by US auto safety regulators.
Questions over safety are amplified with 18-wheelers that weigh 80,000 pounds.
Safety advocates declare the technology is unproven and may lead to more fatal crashes, given that 12.6 per cent of all crashes on US roads in 2020 involved a large truck.
Said Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety president Cathy Chase: 'What we see playing out on roads with some cars claiming to have self-driving capabilities crashing into barriers and people is giving people some pause. We should not be putting test products on the roads.'
Meanwhile, technology companies are proceeding with tests to demonstrate that driverless trucks are the long-term solution.
TuSimple Holdings declared it completed the first fully autonomous semi-truck drive on open public roads on December 22, traveling 80 miles on public roads without a human driver from Tucson to the Phoenix.
Waymo also expanded a test of autonomous delivery vans with United Parcel Service in Phoenix to include big rigs.
The trucking industry declared it is 80,000 drivers short of where it needs to be to meet demand.
The American Trucking Association stated the industry employed 3.36 million truck drivers in 2020, down 6.8 per cent from 3.5 million in 2019.
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JB Hunt Transport Services, Uber Technologies' freight division, and FedEx are among the operators testing automated big rigs as a lack of drivers have caused ports to back up and intensified the supply-chain squeeze gripping the us economy.
'Human drivers, by our nature, have to eat, sleep and take breaks,' said Aurora Innovation co-founder Sterling Anderson.
'What that leads to is enormous underutilisation of these trucks and much slower movement of goods.'
The push to get driverless trucks comes amid safety concerns while the pace of development has delayed the adoption of fully autonomous passenger vehicles.
Tesla has come the closest with its autopilot feature but is the subject of a probe by US auto safety regulators.
Questions over safety are amplified with 18-wheelers that weigh 80,000 pounds.
Safety advocates declare the technology is unproven and may lead to more fatal crashes, given that 12.6 per cent of all crashes on US roads in 2020 involved a large truck.
Said Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety president Cathy Chase: 'What we see playing out on roads with some cars claiming to have self-driving capabilities crashing into barriers and people is giving people some pause. We should not be putting test products on the roads.'
Meanwhile, technology companies are proceeding with tests to demonstrate that driverless trucks are the long-term solution.
TuSimple Holdings declared it completed the first fully autonomous semi-truck drive on open public roads on December 22, traveling 80 miles on public roads without a human driver from Tucson to the Phoenix.
Waymo also expanded a test of autonomous delivery vans with United Parcel Service in Phoenix to include big rigs.
The trucking industry declared it is 80,000 drivers short of where it needs to be to meet demand.
The American Trucking Association stated the industry employed 3.36 million truck drivers in 2020, down 6.8 per cent from 3.5 million in 2019.
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