In the future years,” Tens of thousands” of fully automatic tractor-trailers are anticipated to drag goods on public streets, and programs are in place to begin with 20 autonomous vehicles in Texas in 2024.
Aurora Innovation Inc., a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania- based business looking to develop autonomous driving technologies, has been running managed tests on 18- wheelers to carefully find them onto freeways before its competitors, CBS News reports.  ,
With 25 laser, radar, and camera receptors, the truck you” see” obstacles in the road from a quarter- mile out and then switch to an unimpeded lane without any training or adjustment from a man.  ,
With the assistance of mortal safety drivers, Aurora trucks have driven more than one million kilometers of freely on public highways since 2021. Just three accidents, according to Aurora CEO Chris Urmson, were all caused by errors made by human individuals in other vehicles.
” Within three or four years, Aurora and its rivals expect to put thousands ]of] personal- driving cars on America’s public roadways”, the channel stated. ” The goal is for the trucks, which can run nearly around the clock without breaks, to speed the flow of goods, accelerating delivery times”.
By the end of 2024, Aurora plans to use 20 driverless trucks to transport loads on Texas’s Interstate 45 between Dallas and Houston despite the test runs being conducted on simulated roads at lower speeds or public roads with human failsafe operators aboard.
According to Urmson,” We want to be out there with tens of thousands or thousands of trucks on the road.” ” And to do that, we have to be safe. The only way that the general public will accept it is through it. Frankly, it’s the only way our customers will accept it”.
A worker directs an Aurora Innovation Inc. driverless truck at the company’s terminal in Palmer, Texas, on December 28, 2023. ( Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images )
Self-driving technology has come from automakers like Tesla and Waymo in a variety of forms, but Aurora is vying to be the first to introduce it to the long-haul trucking sector before rivals like Plus. ai, Gatik, and Kodiak Robotics.  ,
Gatik has reported its expectations of beginning in 2024 or 2025, while the others have yet to release their timetables, according to CBS.  ,
While the technology makes advances, the average American’s mindset towards 80, 000 pounds driving 65 mph down super- highways may not be one of acceptance just yet.  ,
According to AAA’s latest survey on the subject, most U. S. drivers either express fear (66 percent ) or uncertainty ( 25 percent ) about fully driverless vehicles.  ,
Safety advocates have also pointed out that “almost no federal regulation” is currently in place for autonomous vehicles and trucks, so as of right now, it is up to the developers to decide if the vehicles are safe enough to operate, according to CBS.
Phil Koopman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies software and autonomous vehicle safety, believes these trucks can be safer but warns that computer systems will inevitably make mistakes.  ,
With billions of dollars in investments on the line, Koopman wonders how businesses will make safe decisions.  ,
” Everything I see indicates they’re trying to do the right thing”, he said. ” But the devil is in the details”.
Urmson claims that Aurora is not interested in compromising safety in order to make money. The company wo n’t even turn a profit until 2027 or 2028.  ,
The CEO declared in a public statement in March that “putting a vehicle on the road that is n’t sufficiently safe — that we are n’t confident in the safety of — kills everything else.”  ,
He also predicted that driverless trucks would complement and not replace human drivers.  ,
” If you’re driving a truck today”, said Urmson, “my expectation is you’re going to be able to retire driving a truck”.
