Five Reasons Not to Worry about Self-Driving Trucks

There are an estimated 3.5 million Class 8 trucks on American roads today—and over 5.7 million commercial drivers. There are more than 210,000 trucking companies, most of which are small fleets or owner-operators. American Trucking Associations (ATA) projects that 15.18 billion tons of freight will be moved by trucks in 2017. That figure is expected to increase 36%--to 20.7 billion tons—by 2028.

In other words, even when the technology is available, it will take self-driving trucks many years to penetrate such a large, complex industry. Also, different types of trucking modes and freight may require different kinds of self-driving technology. Chris Spear, the ATA’s president who also serves on a DOT committee exploring self-driving technology, has said it will be 20 to 25 years before fully autonomous commercial trucks are widely used.

“I think you’re always going to need drivers in the trucks in the cityscapes, doing pick-ups (and) deliveries,” Spear told a committee of lawmakers on Capitol Hill in late 2016.

-Dana Schneider

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https://www.rtsinc.com/articles/five-reasons-not-worry-about-self-driving-trucks