Summary & Reader Response Draft 4

According to the article, “Drone truck startup Einride unveils new driverless vehicles for autonomous freight hauling” written by Hawkins (2020), a Swedish truck company, Einride, has produced a fleet of vehicles that aims to deliver goods in bulk autonomously. The company has been producing appealing and unique vehicle models since 2016 such as “Cab-less pods” for a German logistics company as well as the “T-log” for transporting large amounts of huge tree logs in 2017. The new “Autonomous Electric Transport (AET)” vehicles have a minimalist, sleek design and are similar to its predecessors of being “cab-less”. Hawkins also mentions there are different versions of AETs with each type designed to “suit different operational domains or conditions”. Einride also does regular testing on the vehicles to ensure it can operate smoothly. The article also shares the software that they are using for “completely driverless driving”. The company claims that the new AET would reduce transportation costs by more than half and reduce very high amounts of CO2 emissions on the environment. The company’s vision for freight haulers to be remote controlled and driverless as well as including “off-roading and heavy-duty cargo” in the future. With technology improving rapidly and rising of numbers of cargo, Autonomous Vehicles are the future of freight hauling as the autonomous aspect allow for better adaptability while on the road and allows companies to save costs.

One important factor when considering the future of freight hauling is the ability to adapt and make the best decisions while on the road when an unfavourable circumstance occurs. When transporting goods on the road, various circumstances such as natural disasters, weather conditions as well as the traffic condition on the selected transporting route can occur which can greatly delay or cause problems to the vehicle. According to McCrea (2021), the logistic sector is looking into technology to keep up with the growing demands of goods to be transported. An example of which she mentions is artificial intelligence (AI). AI with the help of sensors, to quickly obtain crucial data, can analyse information quickly and make optimal decisions for the company. She also mentions that through technology, hindrances on the delivery path can be detected quickly and adapt to them accordingly. This improves the efficiency, reliability and safety of the delivery service. According to Hawkins (2020), the AETs from Einride are equip with "Nividia's self-driving software to achieve Level 4 driving." and furthermore have an option to be remote controlled by an operator located very far away from the vehicle. This software enables the AET to adapt to obstacles faced by it during its "off-road driving". 

Autonomous freight hauling also provides an economic benefit to companies. Zarif et al (2021) states that trucking companies have a "30% or more per-mile cost reduction" when implementing autonomous trucks. The claim was made from the comparison between autonomous trucks and the current human driven trucks model. It believes that the savings are due to the lowered labour costs, a driver or two assigned to a truck is not needed, improved driving schedules as humans have more frequent and longer downtime, better handling of fuel and safety. Einride has backed up one of the reasons by showing that one operator is able to control multiple AETs at once. Therefore, implementing autonomous vehicles for freight hauling can grant economic benefits for companies.

While there are many positives to autonomous freight hauling vehicles, there are repercussions when autonomous trucks are adopted into freight hauling. One such repercussion is the increase in job loss for the workers that provide for the truckers which can lead to damaging regional economies. Yang (2018) argues that even a small percentage of truck drivers being replaced could result in a chain of events. It starts from truckers losing their jobs to autonomous trucks. Workers that work at "dedicated hotels, restaurants, grocery stores and entertainment hubs" where many truckers make stops at daily will have their jobs be at risk. Considering each trucker's daily spending and multiply that by the millions of truckers replaced could greatly affect the communities in the country. Truck drivers will not be the only victim of the new autonomous trucks.

In conclusion, autonomous vehicles have enhanced AI and systems which enable quick analysis and decisions while on the road and the optimised driving can help companies save more. However, while the autonomous trucks can benefit companies economically and grant customers better service, the people that rely on truck drivers and truck drivers might find themselves on the losing end. 

 

References 

Hawkins, A. J. (2020, October 8). Drone truck startup einride unveils new driverless vehicles for autonomous freight hauling. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/8/21506125/einride-self-driving-truck-pod-aet-reveal

McCrea, B. (2021, November 8). The Future of Motor Freight 2021. Logistics Management.

https://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/the_future_of_motor_freight_2021

Yang, A. (2018, October 30). Self-driving vehicles: What will happen to truck drivers? Evonomics. https://evonomics.com/what-will-happen-to-truck-drivers-ask-factory-workers-andrew-yang/

Zarif, R., Starks, C., Sussman, A., Kukreja, A., & Abidi, S. (2021, October 22). Autonomous Trucks lead the way. Deloitte. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/future-of-mobility/autonomous-trucks-lead-the-way.html