{"id":2540,"date":"2019-01-08T20:14:02","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T20:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/analyst-robot-trucks-wont-replace-drivers\/"},"modified":"2025-01-10T16:47:32","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T16:47:32","slug":"analyst-robot-trucks-wont-replace-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/analyst-robot-trucks-wont-replace-drivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Analyst: Robot Trucks Won\u2019t Replace Drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t expect autonomous trucking to displace millions of drivers in the near future, conclusions Alexander Potter, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co., a recent report to investors about advanced technology and commercial vehicles. <\/span><\/p>\n

AS reported by Truck.com, He added that the industry should expect some form of electrification to be part of every new commercial vehicle drivetrain within a decade.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cArguably, it\u2019s irrelevant to talk about whether robot drivers will replace humans,\u201d Potter wrote. \u201cMany drivers cannot be displaced. They do much more than just drive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of eliminating drivers, automation should be used to ease the driver shortage, he said. But if drivers can\u2019t be removed, then full autonomy offers less compelling savings.<\/span><\/p>\n

One potential application is platooning, in which digitally tethered trucks travel closely together to reduce drag and save fuel, Potter said. Other potential savings from automation could come from its use in supporting less skilled and lower paid workers to drive quasi-automated segments, Potter said.<\/span><\/p>\n

It could also be used to extend driving time limits. Allowing drivers more hours would improve freight productivity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWorkers will be needed no matter what, and automation can help address this problem,\u201d Potter said.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Potter doesn\u2019t see a massive replacement of truckers with robots, he does predict significant change in the industry \u2013 especially in drivetrain technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain believers in the superiority of electric drivetrains,\u201d Potter said.<\/span><\/p>\n

While fuel economy for trucks, even in the heaviest Class 8 weight segment, continues to improve and is approaching 8 mpg, fleets are not reaping all of the expected savings, Potter said. Fuel costs drop, but the savings are partly offset by spending on maintenance for emissions systems. Moreover, problems with emissions treatment components frequently take vehicles out of service, and that costs fleets money.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is all happening at time when the cost of diesel engines is rising while battery prices are falling, Potter wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd even if truck makers don\u2019t believe in electric vehicles, regulation is forcing their hand,\u201d he said. \u201cIf urban areas become \u2018zero emission\u2019 zones, nobody can afford to ignore electric trucks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Battery costs are declining so quickly that, if you want storage, it\u2019s cheaper to buy new. Luckily, as recycling processes mature, fleets shouldn\u2019t have to pay so much for disposal, Potter said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Full article here<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t expect autonomous trucking to displace millions of drivers in the near future, conclusions Alexander Potter, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co., a recent report to investors about advanced…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,54],"tags":[716,1264,93,77,586,348,1181],"class_list":["post-2540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-labour-hr-driver-shortage","category-technology-equipment","tag-autonomous-vehicles","tag-batteries","tag-driver-pay","tag-driver-shortage","tag-electric-trucks","tag-fuel-economy","tag-robots"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}