Vehicles that drive themselves. Seemingly, a concept straight out of the Jetsons. But is our technology advanced enough to make this possible? Well according to Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Google we can expect to see self driving vehicles on our streets like tomorrow! Well not really, but they are close.
Mercedez-Benz recently introduced their futuristic truck, scheduled to hit the streets as early as 2025. Not only are companies conceptualizing the possibility for self driving vehicles they are actually building them.
As you can see in the video, a human driver is still needed to be on the driver’s seat. However, the driver can multi-task and take his eyes off the road! Crazy the idea but apparently very possible. Just think, you can actually do your makeup, eat breakfast, or even text on your phone while “driving”.
Self driving vehicles will re define the driver experience, no doubt about that. So, what changes can we expect within the Trucking Industry?
Currently, truck drivers spend a lot of time on the road and consequently a lot time away from home. A truck driver has to transport goods from point A to point B. Between the time it takes them to transport those goods they have to follow guidelines that prevent them from overworking themselves. For example, a truck driver is required to only drive certain number of hours during a 24 hr time frame and sleep accordingly. If they fail to follow such guidelines he/she can face major consequences. So, if a truck driver can only drive certain number of hours it will of course add to the time that it takes for them to deliver the load. Therefore, a self driving vehicle can mean that a truck driver will deliver a load faster.
Wouldn’t that be great? Truck drivers can spend more time at home or even have the time to work twice as much. I assume it will help make the industry a lot more productive and prevent trucker shortages that the industry is facing today. The Trucking Industry can meet its ever growing demand. As you know the year 2025 is not too far away. Will be interesting to see the changes to come.
Written by Yesenia Carrillo