Daimler Trucks North America is the first to get approval for self-driving commercial vehicles in the United States. The Freightliner Inspiration Truck, and other trucks like it, could have massive implications for the future of transportation. The Inspiration truck features a system called Highway Pilot, which uses stereoscopic cameras and radar sensors to give it an autonomous autopilot mode when cruising on the highway. The truck can steer to stay between lane markers and adjust its speed and braking to maintain a safe following distance behind other cars on the road all while the driver is free to do other things.

It’s considered a “level 3” autonomous vehicle, meaning it enables hands-off highway driving under certain circumstances, but requires a driver to be present, ready to take the helm in an emergency or to pass other vehicles in the truck’s path. The driver is likewise required to assume control of the vehicle when exiting the highway, driving over local roads and pulling up to the loading dock for making or taking deliveries.

For the record, a “level 4″ vehicle would be able to perform all driving functions and monitor roadway conditions for an entire trip, truly freeing up the valuable resource of human time.

Daimler executives are being careful to allay fears of human employment disruption. “We don’t want to get rid of drivers,” says Sven Ennerst, head of Daimler Trucks’ development department. Daimler continues by repeatedly saying the technology won’t can’t change lanes on its own, it won’t be market-ready for a decade, and could never fully replace human drivers.

The reality remains that that it is a big step towards addressing a massive market need: safe and reliable transportation.

Some large freight carriers have already started incorporating innovative new safety features like blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, and lane departure warnings. The economic case for these technologies is clear.

“Commercial vehicles are a safety issue,” says Xavier Mosquet, head of Boston Consulting Group’s North America automotive division. “And therefore anything that can get commercial vehicles out of trouble has a lot of value.”

With America's driver shortage continuing to worsen, good truck drivers cost more these days. Costs are also rising for companies that cut corners and hire unsafe drivers. Liability in a commercial truck accident is increasingly falling on the shipper.

HWP - Highway Pilot World Premiere Freightliner Inspiration Truck

In order to get the autonomous vehicle license plate from the state of Nevada, Daimler needed to prove the system could safely cover 10,000 miles on its own. This was done on test tracks in Germany and on quiet roads in Nevada.

Daimler ran a small study (16 drivers on a test track) to see how this autonomous system affects drivers. EEG readings showed they were 25 percent less tired than they were when they had to steer themselves.

Customers are very much interested in this system, according to Daimler. That’s no surprise: Making driving a job for the computer can reduce accidents, improve fuel efficiency, and maybe keep trucks on the road for longer, says Noël Perry, an economist who specializes in transportation and logistics. “They all love this.”

Additional Reading:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27485-autonomous-truck-cleared-to-drive-on-us-roads-for-the-first-time.html#.VVDGtNNVhBd

http://www.wired.com/2015/05/daimler-built-worlds-first-self-driving-semi/

What if trucks could drive themselves? As automation technology proves to be reliable, the adoption of self-driving vehicles will continue to occur. The impacts on the economy could be massive. The UK may begin testing self-driving trucks in 2015. According to The Sunday Times, UK ministers recently visited Sweden to witness the technology in action and are making plans to bring it to the UK. Advocates say the technology could increase fuel efficiency and make better use of human time.

Some proposed systems, such as Volvo's SARTRE road train system, would have vehicles driving tightly together in a caravan using Wi-Fi, infrared cameras, and laser sensors to keep vehicles at a safe distance from each other. Each vehicle would have a driver in it, though only the front driver would be steering. The other "drivers" could be working on administrative tasks - or eating lunch. While governments and companies are starting out slowly, the eventual result could very well be fully driverless vehicles. This could also be useful for America's economy, as the American Trucking Associations (ATA) estimates that the U.S. is short 30,000 truck drivers.

In the United States, Google has been the most outspoken proponent of self-driving technology. Their prototype (built from the ground up) goes further and foregoes the steering wheel, mirrors, and pedals found in most of today's vehicles. Their project is focused on human transport, ostensibly so people that used to spend time driving can spend more time using Google's internet services. Uber's $17 billion valuation shows that applied innovation in human transport can be quite profitable for entrepreneurs and their investors. Now imagine automating the most expensive aspect of Uber's business model: the drivers. While some people fear the safety of such auto-mobiles, advocates of self-driving vehicles point to the current rate of human driver error (~40,000 vehicle related deaths in the US each year) and want to push for dramatic safety improvements through well-designed automation.

While the ride-sharing & taxi industry will be attractive, the real prize could be in supply chain logistics. Global shipping is worth trillions of dollars, and margins could be improved with this new technology. The last couple decades have seen container ships greatly increase in size in order to achieve better economies of scale. The BBC talked with Matt Collette, who teaches ship design at the University of Michigan. He says, “There are two primary drivers for automation,” says Collette. “One is that human beings are not very good at long repetitive tasks. That’s when you see lapses in concentration that lead to the ship getting into a collision or running aground,” he explains.

“Automation could reduce those types of accidents significantly, because the computers have no problem paying attention for a two-month voyage.”

In the 20th century, Malcolm McLean helped adopt the standard size and shape of shipping containers. Although a simple invention, containerization drastically lowered the costs of shipping around the world. Some economists find evidence that the shipping container has done more for global trade than every trade agreement signed in the past 50 years. Now, with automated transportation, the economics of international trade may be revolutionized yet again in the 21st century.