Be careful - using an image of a driverless truck straddling the lane line, unnecessarily in the left (passing) lane, on an empty mountain highway isn't really helpful....
And in the automated truck future, would there be no cab, just a (simpler, cheaper, smaller) motorized tug? And then switch to a cab-with-driver if needed for last-mile operations?
As to what the future will be like, there are all sorts of ways it could go. Automated trucks in 2025 still have a cab for a safety operator and for complex last-mile operations. But then, some robotaxis in 2025 (Zoox’s, for instance) have no human interface at all.
It’s easy to imagine a robotruck like the latter, optimized to carry a standard container that an automated depot can move from one vehicle to another, for the sort of handover you imagine.
Be careful - using an image of a driverless truck straddling the lane line, unnecessarily in the left (passing) lane, on an empty mountain highway isn't really helpful....
And in the automated truck future, would there be no cab, just a (simpler, cheaper, smaller) motorized tug? And then switch to a cab-with-driver if needed for last-mile operations?
Artist’s conception, Steve, artist’s conception…
As to what the future will be like, there are all sorts of ways it could go. Automated trucks in 2025 still have a cab for a safety operator and for complex last-mile operations. But then, some robotaxis in 2025 (Zoox’s, for instance) have no human interface at all.
It’s easy to imagine a robotruck like the latter, optimized to carry a standard container that an automated depot can move from one vehicle to another, for the sort of handover you imagine.