Tag: self-driving truck

OM in the News: The Self-Driving Postal Truck

The U.S. Postal Service is testing self-driving trucks on a 1,000-mile mail run between Phoenix and Dallas, the post office’s first use of the technology for long hauls. The move comes as investors and vehicle makers are spending millions on trucking automation, reports The Wall Street Journal (May 22, 2019).

The pilot uses big rigs supplied by autonomous trucking firm TuSimple to haul trailers on five round trips between distribution centers. The 22-hour trip along three interstate highways is normally serviced by outside trucking companies that use 2-driver teams to comply with federal regulations limiting drivers’ hours behind the wheel. The vehicle can continue operating without the hours-of-service restrictions of a human driver.

The Postal Service, which has been losing money for several years as letter volume has declined, is trying to restrain operating costs and is seeking ways to cut fuel expenses, improve truck safety and use its fleet more efficiently. Proponents of autonomous vehicle technology believe long-haul trucking, where operators say they have difficulty recruiting and retaining drivers, is a promising market for expanded use of the technology.

The TuSimple system uses cameras that the company says see more than half a mile ahead to spot emergency vehicles, pedestrians and road hazards. TuSimple’s technology allows “driveway-to-driveway” autonomous runs and its trucks navigate surface streets on delivery routes in Arizona for other customers..

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. What is driving this USPS initiative?
  2. How will this affect the trucking industry, if successful?

OM in the News: Is Platooning the Next Logistics Big Wave?

Big rigs platooning

Ten states in the last year have cleared the way for trucks to travel with as little as 40 feet between them, reports Supply & Demand Chain Executive (July 26, 2018).  Platooning is an emerging vehicle technology in which digitally tethered convoys of 2 or more trucks travel closely together to reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency. The trucks must have a radio-based technology called vehicle-to-vehicle communications and automatic emergency braking systems.

Earlier this year, Volvo Trucks and FedEx teamed up to create a 3-truck convoy on a stretch of North Carolina 540. Volvo estimated that some fleet customers could achieve fuel savings of up to 10% using platooning.

“Automated platooning technology allows trucks to reducing aerodynamic drag, fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions,” said an industry expert. “The business case for the trucking companies is the fuel savings.” Peloton Technologies, a Calif.-based company, claims more than 7% fuel savings by trucks accelerating and braking at close distances. If the trucks can share information about braking activity, direction, speed and potential obstacles they can maintain a closer-than-usual following distance. The platoon also can reduce traffic congestion and react quickly to potential obstacles.

Most state legislatures are voting overwhelmingly in favor of the changes, which focus on loosening regulations concerning the distances driver must maintain between vehicles. In 5 years, it is estimated, the entire country will be on board. Georgia and Tennessee were the first states to fully welcome platooning, passing legislation in 2017.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Why is platooning an important logistics issue?
  2. What  is the next logical step in trucking efficiency?

OM in the News: Self-Driving Truck Makes a Beer Run

self-driving-truck-1The futurists of Silicon Valley may not have seen this one coming: The first commercial delivery made by a self-driving truck was 2,000 cases of Budweiser beer. This week, Otto, the Uber-owned self-driving vehicle operation, completed its first commercial delivery, having delivered its beer load from Fort Collins, Colo., to Colorado Springs, a 120-mile trip. Otto said a trained driver was in the cabin of the truck at all times to monitor the vehicle’s progress and take over if necessary. At no point was the driver required to intervene.

In recent years, Uber has predicted a future in which you can ride in a self-driving car that will take you where you want to go, no driver necessary. But the idea that commercial trucking could be done by robot is a relatively new idea — and a potentially controversial one, given the possibility that robots could one day replace human drivers. The delivery was indicative of Uber’s larger ambitions to become an enormous transportation network, one in which the company is responsible for moving anything, like people, hot meals or cases of beer, around the globe, at all hours and as efficiently as possible.

An Otto truck on the road, with the driver’s seat empty.
An Otto truck on the road, with the driver’s seat empty.

Annual U.S. trucking industry revenue topped $720 billion in 2015, reports The New York Times (Oct. 26, 2016). Anheuser-Busch, for example, delivers more than a million truckloads of beer domestically every year. “We view self-driving trucks as the future, and we want to be a part of that,” says a Busch executive.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. What are the implications for the logistics industry?

       2. Why did Uber buy Otto?