Saturday Morning Automated Vehicle Technology Links
Let this very real human take you on a quick spin through recent developments on the various fronts in the coming war against your freedom of movement.
GM from GM, and Happy Saturday.
I’ve been a little busy as of late with the editing process of a soon to be released piece at Newsweek; the piece in question being elevated from mere ‘Op-Ed’ to the category of ‘legitimate journalism’, and with that comes a great deal of fact checking, or, in the words of my building engineer brother-in-law, having a ‘tight seal on the building envelope.’ The process has been frustrating and painstaking at times, but it will have been worth the effort. I look forward to bringing you this story, a story hard to come by in a world of Party State propaganda, especially as it raises uncomfortable questions that many would prefer we ignore.
On to the links!
First up - from good friend of this Substack, and news editor over at Overdrive Magazine, Mr. Matt Cole, some excellent reporting on a recent hearing in Congress looking into the potential impacts of self driving trucks. The specific impact was framed as a pretty basic question - Will autonomous tech cost drivers their jobs?
My answer to that question is fairly nuanced - yes, this tech will cost drivers in certain areas of the industry their jobs, and given the incredible speed at which this tech is developing, this will most likely happen sooner, rather than later.
Duplicitous shitbirds like Chris Spear, CEO of the American Trucking Association, would have us believe there is no problem here, and that drivers will not, in fact, be replaced by robots. Given the turnover and retention problems of the mega carriers who comprise the vast majority of his membership, though, it is easy to see why they have to keep saying that they need a steady stream of steering wheel holders, right up until the point that they don’t.
Keep that in mind when you hear from the mouthpieces for this technology - the whole point of it is to replace drivers with subscription based autonomous technology, and take $200 Billion annually in American truck drivers wages and transfer that to the investors and ownership of tech companies. It is class warfare, pure and simple; though Congress will never hear this argument, per Matt Cole -
Testifying during the hearing were Chris Urmson, co-founder and CEO of autonomous truck maker Aurora Innovation; Jeff Farrah, executive director of the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association (AVIA); Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations; and Cathy Chase, president of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. Notably missing from the hearing -- during National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, no less -- was an actual truck driver or group representing operators' interests, despite the technology's potential to threaten the truck driving profession itself in the future.
Read the whole thing, Matt is an excellent reporter and nothing gets past him.
Speaking of Matt Cole, and “National Truck Driver Appreciation Week”, I had Mr Cole on my podcast as a special run of shows for my fellow truckers, along with Overdrive Editor-in-chief, Mr. Todd Dills.
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Next up in the links -
You will have to sign up for a free account to read this one, but it is definitely worth the extra couple of steps.
From the Ojo-Yoshida Report comes a whole tanker load of nice cold water to dump on the fantastic claims of the TechBros.
AV Trucking - Bigger Robots, Bigger Problems?
The reality is that self-driving trucks are neither easier to develop, nor quicker to profit than robotaxis.
A narrative emerged in 2020 that “self-driving–truck prototypes have some advantages over their robotaxi brethren because trucking is a bigger economic market than taxis.”
By 2023, in an interview with the Ojo-Yoshida Report, an AV trucking industry executive, speaking on the condition of anonymity, offered a sobering revision: “Nobody’s really scaled anything out yet [in AV trucking]. Customers are still trying to figure out what this means for their logistics operations. There’s a lot still left to play out here.”
Koopman pointed out, “Additional risks include steep hills (truck runaway ramp usage), tip-over on sharp turns, bridge and height restrictions.” There are also cargo risks, he added. “Shifting cargo, hazardous cargo, cargo theft, loose cargo, cargo fire (e.g., hauling batteries).”
AV advocates often brush off weather nightmares like blizzards and hail, trusting technological advancements as the eventual solution.
Maybe. But in the AV business, companies can’t just throw more technologies at problems. Solutions need much more careful planning in operations.
In severe weather, a robotaxi, for example, could toddle back to its nearby terminal. But trucks go out on long journeys, where it’s not always easy to pull over into safe harbor. Moreover, every change from manual to AV is a logistical challenge.
One AV truck developer said, “So sometimes when people say it’s easier for trucks, that’s where I disagree … AV trucks have a different set of roles to play and a different set of challenges to overcome.”
The whole article is worth a read, and dives into issues with insurance, as well.
In the trucking industry, a “nuclear verdict” is a liability award by a jury of more than $10 million – some say $50 million or even $100 million – after a truck accident in which any sort of negligence is found. This is a judgement so severe that it could effectively put the company out of business.
Speaking to the Ojo-Yoshida Report, William Widen, professor at the Miami School of Laws, called nuclear verdict “a scary term that can be used to justify tort reform that limits recoveries for personal injuries. You get larger verdicts because trucks do more damage on average. If you do a lot of damage in a passenger vehicle, you too could get stuck with a nuclear verdict.”
The AV trucking industry appears to believe that AV trucks present no distinctly different legal issues. Widen begged to differ.
Speaking of truck insurance, I have recorded an interview with truck insurance underwriter and claims adjuster Darren Yancey, who has over 30 years of experience in the trucking insurance business. Mr Yancey has some interesting insights into what is coming down the pipe with regards to insuring autonomous vehicles, and I look forward to releasing that episode very soon.
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More Links!
When two tech companies get together and have a baby, this is what we get.
You may have even already seen these going up and down the highway between Dallas and Houston.
Waabi and Uber Freight partner to build an industry-first solution for seamless autonomous truck deployment.
To my friends who swing doors and bump docks for a living -
It’s Happening!
To gather valuable insights for the joint solution, Waabi Driver trucks have been deployed on the Uber Freight network giving Uber Freight customers early access to autonomous freight capacity. The autonomous commercial loads, the first of which ran this week, will run regularly between Dallas and Houston and give the thousands of shippers and carriers on the Uber Freight network an opportunity to better understand what the future of supply chain operations will look like and how autonomous trucks can improve overall network efficiency. As the partnership continues to advance, commercial operations will quickly expand to other key lanes in Texas and beyond.
Now if the hardwood industry would ever rebound, those of us who navigate bush roads and have to operate a hydraulic picker could carry on working in peace.
Something tells me that the cost prohibitions in automating something like this means the vocational trucker has a few years left in him yet.
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Some might ask themselves, is their a political solution to slowing this technology down, especially in light of the very real worry that a confluence of TechBros and OMG SAFETY Harridans will demand that human drivers be barred from the roads at some point?
The answer is NO
Assembly Bill 316 was promoted by supporters as a way to save jobs by prohibiting self-driving trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) from operating on public roads unless a person is on board. This includes vehicles such as UPS delivery trucks and larger big rigs.
"Assembly Bill 316 is unnecessary for the regulation and oversight of heavy-duty autonomous vehicle technology in California, as existing law provides sufficient authority to create the appropriate regulatory framework," a veto message from Newsom read.
Peace Be Upon Him, and may Brother Bill Hicks prophecy come true any day now.
”You’ll learn to swim, we’ll see you down in Arizona Bay.”
The contention that human drivers are forever and always bad, and that the solution is to Tech them out of existence, is fundamentally anti-human, anti-freedom, and 100% pure unadulterated bullshit. The powers that be are simply uninterested in raising the barriers to entry for people to get a drivers license, by such measures as increasing the amount of required training, mandating remedial training for those with a poor driving record, or imposing a system of graduated licensing on those whom drive trucks for a living.
No, it’s all tech all the time, with very little consideration for the contents of Pandora’s Box.
For a great conversation around the deeper meanings imbued in human physical activities like driving, and to see what the pushers of this technology are missing, I highly recommend a conversation I recently published with modern American philosopher and advocate for the importance of human navigation of material reality, Matthew B Crawford.
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On to links from the world of RoboTaxis!
Every now and then, nerds from the world of State Propaganda Public Broadcasting produce content that serves the public interest, rather than that of The Party State Kakistocracy.
This is one such instance, and we get a brief glimpse of friend of this Substack and frequent guest of Voice Of GO(r)D, Mr Edward Escobar.
According to TechCrunch, RoboTaxis are soon to begin operations in Washington, D.C., where I can think of roughly 535 pedestrians worthy of becoming the unavoidable collateral damage of this uncontrolled experiment on our streets. A guy can dream.
If you, like me, have had enough of this top-down and anti-democratic imposition upon us of technology that nobody asked for, but, unlike me, you live in one of these urban Bug Hives where this experimentation on the commons is taking place, there are opportunities to send a message to our Overlords that are extremely safe and easy to do.
FUN WITH TRAFFIC CONES!
Alright, that’s it for links, for now.
I’d like to thank Edward Escobar for sending me some of these, and for being one of the few people in America keeping a critical eye on the RoboTaxi beat.
You can follow Edward on LinkedIn.
Looking forward into the week, I hope to bring you the piece from Newsweek I alluded to earlier, as well as a recording of the Ask Us Anything! myself and former guests of Voice Of GO(r)D held for a live audience over on Discord, care of my man Reed Loustalot of LostFR8. It was lengthy, lively, and spicy at times, but a fun discussion on issues surrounding the automated technology now on our roads.
Thanks for reading and subscribing, and would ask in return that you share this substack, and my podcast, widely with your friends and interested associates.
Have a great weekend!