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Transportation and Automation

posted by TrueNorth and TSA (Truckers Service Association) on Thursday, May 26, 2016

There's no disputing that self-driving vehicles will be a part of our future -

but the future may be here sooner than we realize, thanks to San Francisco-based start-up, Otto. The brain child of former Google engineers, Otto is gearing up to revolutionize the transportation industry with their new approach to modern transportation: self-driving trucks. 

Why autonomous 18-wheelers before passenger vehicles? The New York Times outlines Otto's ambitions and provides rationale for their focus on big-rigs: "Adding self-driving technology - at least as it stands now - into regular passenger cars could make them absurdly expensive ... [b]ut a new, big tractor-trailer truck can easily cost more than $150,000, so the added cost of robotic features could make more sense."

As Otto prepares for market, they intend to offer their technology as an upgrade that would be available for long-haul drivers to purchase, or as a service that a trucking operator could obtain through a subscription. Otto is hoping to market their service to owner-operators that would benefit from rest during long-haul trips. 

Although innovative, Otto's competition in the autonomous market is fierce; just last year, Daimler Trucks North America introduced a self-driving truck, and many large tech companies are all vying for a role in this space. 

According to TrueNorth Corporate Partner, American Trucking Associations (ATA), there are over three million truck drivers in the United States, which means that one of every 15 workers in the nation is employed in the trucking business. This innovative self-driving technology could diversify the trucking industry, adding transportation mechanics and technicians  to service the vehicle, in addition to the truck driver.  

What do you think? 

With a mission to support the transportation enterprise as well as its workforce, TrueNorth specializes in helping transportation companies design and administer sustainable risk management platforms that are cohesive and driver-centric in nature. Autonomous driving will inevitably play a significant role in the transportation industry, which is why it will be a major topic of discussion amongst industry leaders at our TrueNorth Transportation Risk Summit in August.