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Will autonomous trucks be common by 2030?
Most at Omnitracs Outlook 2017 believe autonomous trucks are closer than people think
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By Derek Clouthier
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
If “ELDs” was the most common term uttered during Omnitracs Out- look 2017, “autonomous” was a close second. But while most believed the timing for autonomous trucks roll- ing down North American highways is close, some find the notion more difficult to grasp.
“The path to self-driving trucks is probably sooner than people think,” said Wes Mays, director of OEM solutions for Omnitracs.
Mays predicted that 2025 will mark the start of autonomous trucks on the road, and by 2030 the practice would be considered commonplace.
“Improving road safety is not about any one item,” said Mays. “The car of tomorrow will be vastly dif- ferent than anything we can think of today.”
Mays highlighted several of the technological advances that have been introduced to trucks over the past several years, starting with power brakes and steering, and progressing to automatic transmis- sions, blind spot detection, stability control, lane departure warnings, collision warnings, active steering and braking, platooning, and auton- omous driving.
“The car of tomorrow will be vastly different than anything we can think of today.”
– Wes Mays, Omnitracs
Mays said several next genera- tion vision technologies are already changing the trucking landscape, such as video recognition to detect posted road speeds, street sign and light violations, and yield/merge vio- lation detection systems. Products that warn of tailgating, improper lane changes, truck/trailer back- ing, and vehicle passing prognos- tics only add to the multitude of advancements toward a fully-au- tonomous reality.
But for autonomous trucks to work, Mays said precise vehicle communications is necessary, and for that to happen with the accu- racy required, there is a need for what is called dedicated short- range communications (DSRC), which is used for wireless commu- nication, specifically designed for automotive use.
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“We need that DSRC system ded- icated for traffic safety,” Mays said. Mays told attendees of the Out- look 2017 breakout session that when fully-autonomous trucks come to fruition, to try and imag- ine a day when driving on the high- way is so safe that a fatal collision is considered a homicide. For some, this is difficult to envision in 2017. Many have voiced regulatory bar- riers and public acceptance as roadblocks to the idea of driverless trucks. But others urge the public to be prepared, because it’s much
closer than they think. TN
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June 2017 • Truck News 43