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Trucking Autonomous Trucks

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2.a. Autonomous trucking is the innovation that I based my artifact on. Autonomous trucking is the use of autonomous driving systems to transport cargo by the use of trucks not operated by human operation. The main purpose of making trucking autonomous is to decrease the cost of company trucking. Platooning allows for computers in trucks to save on fuel by computerly linking the two trucks together so that they can follow each other at close distances safely creating a draft to save on fuel as seen in bottom left picture. By creating humanless trucks companies will save on employment by cutting jobs as seen in the bottom right picture. One the other hand, one negative of that is that the over one million people who drive trucks for a living …show more content…

The goal of automated systems is to improve fuel efficiency in tractor trailers by 20 percent in real-world driving conditions through the use of platooning. (2) Platooning is the use of computers to allow tractor trailers to electronically follow each other closely creating a draft and saving on fuel costs. Which in the long haul will save companies money on shipping and the shipping costs for customers should decrease. Also “Medium- and heavy-duty trucks generate 23% of the US transportation sector's overall greenhouse gas emissions” (3) These emissions will be cut down with more effective computor controled trucks. On the other hand with the more efficient computer replacing humans, the amount of people unemployed will go up. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there are 1.7 million trucking jobs in the U.S. (2) Although autonomous trucks will not fully replace drivers right away for safety purposes many companies are looking forward to not having to pay drivers in the future. Another issue that they are finding with the autonomous trucks is their responses to mechanical problems like a flat tire or a weather

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