[Badbart56]

There have been similar attempts at doing this in the trucking industry. One company I worked for in the past equips their trucks with lane departure and imminent collision sensors that react to preset parameters. It cost approximately 25 grand to outfit these trucks and I'm not impressed (nor are many others) with the results.

One such truck would pick up reflections from DOT reflective tape on underpasses and would lock down the brakes. It did that three times one night. I called dispatch and told them if it happened again I would tell them what mile marker to come pick up the truck. Had it been raining or icy I would have lost control.

Several companies are working toward a goal of driverless trucks. No doubt the industry is relishing the idea of the profits to be made if they didn't have to pay drivers. But several have abandoned the idea as, in my opinion, they are light years away from making this venture safe enough to turn these 80K pound behemoths loose on the highways.

Besides, even if the GPS could direct the truck to an address, who is going to maneuver the rig to a dock? That is where the skill comes in. They couldn't put enough sensors on a truck and 53 foot trailer to be able to back into a real world dock without causing damage to other vehicles and/or property. And who is going to fuel them up? Do the pre-trip/post-trip inspections, etc.?

I don't see this happening anytime soon. One good lawsuit and this dream will likely be over. Doubtful number one that insurance companies would be willing to go out on that limb (if the companies could afford it) and two, DOT has not said whether they would sign off on it, and they have the final say. The ones they are experimenting with now have to have at least one CDL class A driver onboard, so what are the savings?