Are Driverless Trucks The Future Of Shipping? Inside Waymo’s New Test Program

Waymo is betting that the future of shipping will be autonomous 18-wheelers. NBC News’ Gadi Schwartz meets Boris Sofman, the company’s head of engineering for trucking, to hear about its test program for semi-trucks. They go for a ride with a safety driver behind the wheel. As Waymo tests its self-driving trucks in Arizona, they say their biggest challenge is accounting for unpredictable behavior from others on the road. The U.S. is facing a growing shortage of truck drivers.

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[mdh]

There is no driver shortage. These companies just want to pay drivers less. Flood the market with drivers and drop the rates. I’ve been driving for 7 years so I know.

[King.Geovanni]

They always say there is a shortage of drivers but the companies won’t hire you unless you have 2 years experience. It’s hard to get 2 years experience when every company requires it.

[cartrack]

Love to see how it is going to navigate though tight situations in the back of stores and back into a loading dock when other trucks are back there and crowded situations.

[rootboysupreme]

I have over a decade of commercial driving, I've been in many vehicles with a drive cam that only allows so much space between the bumper and the next vehicle. If this is a similar tech, I'd be very interested in in seeing it's performance in New York City traffic where bumper to bumper driving is necessary to move one mile every 5 minutes.

I'm also very interested in seeing it maneuver backing off of a busy street into a dock full of workers and forklifts.

[kjokerk]

As a trucker all I can say is weather. No amount of computers can predict the the weather.

[apb]

And one year late Wymo decided to stop its driverless trucks development. Game over for Wymo

[daveh]

Shortage is also due to low wages and less than acceptable treatment for drivers. Who wants to work for peanuts, while been told that a machine will replace you in the near future?

No one with a brain cell will stay as a driver these days. The learning curve requires time, training and the liability is very high. Self-driving is here to stay and a young person needs a career with progression.

[Faisals_Adventures]

They should perfect the self driving technology with the smallest and lightest vehicles possible, before moving onto big rigs.
If a 200 lbs vehicle gets into an accident the damage would be dramatically less than that of a semi truck.

[Jahzwolf]

No, just absolutely NO. I never want to drive near a driverless semi or car ever. Not ever. What could go wrong ? No man to stop it

[AuroraColoradoUSA]

A bumper sticker "TEST VEHICLE, NO DRIVER" to keep other cars at a safe distance.

[tomedy_official]

It won't replace people because they will still need drivers backup and confirmation for deliveries.

[HellokittyAnneliz]

The truck driver is helping to train his replacement..lol

[jaybartgis]

So let me get this straight. I have to wait weeks on end for spare parts for basic conventional trucks that break down every 30k miles.... yet they think they can mass produce driverless trucks with state of the art

[somethingoutdoors]

I would like to see how this truck does when severe weather suddenly happens and massive potholes are in the road

[davidhouse]

When Bob is out a job he can thank himself

[williammaguire]

The idea that these trucks are only meant to replace the shortage of drivers is pure propaganda. Once these work and have full DoT approval. Truck drivers are gone. My man with the best office seat in the world is doing all he can do to make sure that other truckers have no seat. Good job pal...

[antoniofitchett]

I wanna see it back into a dock between two trucks!!!!

[johndiaz]

My thing is all you need to do is make the truck slow to a full stop and loot the truck on those empty highways

[franciscoenrique]

2:16
"Their biggest hurdle is planning for unpredictable human drivers"
CRST truck drives by slowly center frame.

SHOTS FIRED!😂
😂

[PassiveIncomeTrucker]

I dont think this will be running anytime soon. flat tires, adding oil, adding fuel, knowing when and where to back in the dock. Im sure it wont be backing into dock # 5 or if you get the wrong address. Its a lot that goes into trucking that a computer cant compute.