Autonomous trucks in use

[Pony]

Didn't know we were that close.

120 driverless road trains for the West Pilbara

In a world-first, MinRes will deploy a fleet of 120 autonomous road trains, which will each carry 330 tonnes of iron ore along a 150km route.

bigrigs.com.au

 

[OzDozer]

Going to be interesting to see the results of the first pile-up, when there's a major sensor failure!

 

[Truck Shop]

Been testing in the southwest for two years now. If Yellow {YRC} could have managed to
have been the first they would have done it. No calling in sick, no coming to work late, no
days off, no medical insurance or other benefits, no E-Log to worry about, no filth in in the cab,
the list goes on. My old boss/owner said if those ever become available I have a list of 30 drivers
that will get the axe.

 

[Pony]

It said they've been testing for the last 2yrs and now they're going to deploy 120 units, so you would have to imagine that nothing catastrophic has happened yet?
I suppose it comes back to redundant safety's for all the necessary systems, being a closed road should make it a little easier by keeping all the idiots out of the way.
It's probably a bit of a double edged sword re drivers. As stated the owners don't have to put up with bad drivers, but it's also taking jobs away from good drivers. But if it works they'll be no stopping it, it will become the norm.

 

[JaredV]

When they start running on public roads, will they stop to help at a wreck? Autonomous ships are being developed. I wonder how helpful they will be at picking up people from liferafts. I hate to think of the disappointment of being shipwrecked at sea and seeing "help" go steaming on by a half mile away.

 

[Jimbo]

Hmmmm......I wonder if the road maintenance will be done autonomously also??

 

[Mobiltech]

When they start running on public roads, will they stop to help at a wreck? Autonomous ships are being developed. I wonder how helpful they will be at picking up people from liferafts. I hate to think of the disappointment of being shipwrecked at sea and seeing "help" go steaming on by a half mile away.

It seems lately its inattentive truck drivers causing the wrecks so maybe they will help in that instance.
We hear more and more crashes at road construction stops due to drivers not paying attention.

 

[Nige]

This appears to be somewhat similar to autonomous haul trucks on remote Australian mine sites that operate on a dedicated road system free of other traffic. From what I know a lot of Australian mining operations are struggling to recruit operators because of the need for a FIFO system from the nearest city despite paying pretty good salaries. If this is a new operation that could probably be the reason why.

 

[OzDozer]

It is a whole new Iron ore mining operation, from a new location and shipping out through a coastal location that cannot have a deep-water port, due to the entire area basically being a huge tidal flat region.
Interestingly, they're also planning for those autonomous road trains to be electric-powered (swappable battery packs).
Janus Electric, an Australian electric truck startup, already has a prototype electric truck roadtrain, and the demand for them is huge.

So, this company (MinRes) is spending mega-billions to build a new Iron ore mine, build a 150km dedicated haul road (including grade separation where the haul road interacts with public roads), and build a massive 220,000 tonne sealed, negative pressure ore storage building at the port (to prevent any Iron ore dust problem, which is unacceptable to coastal towns with nice clean beaches).

From there, the ore is loaded into 20,000 tonne dedicated barges and run 40 kms offshore, where the ore is then transferred into "Cape size" bulk ore carriers (usually around 150,000 tonnes capacity).
On top of that, they are building two "resort-style" camps for their on-site employees - one at the minesite, and one on the coast.

You can get some idea of the profitability of Iron ore mines from this level of expenditure.

But only a limited number of people want to work in Iron ore mines in Western Australia, it requires someone who can cope with temperatures of up to 50°C in Summer, sometimes below 0°C in Winter, isolation, long working hours, limited entertainment, and work associates who are often less-than-social personalities.

For the companies, it's a massive cost saving, eliminating as many employees as possible. They spend mega-millions on isolated minesite camps and facilities to try and provide a normal social life, and they often have to build major airstrips and aviation facilities that are capable of taking decent-sized, 50-pax-plus jets for the FIFO employees.

The Onslow Iron Project - Mineral Resources

MinRes’ Onslow Iron project is set to redefine mining in Western Australia through world-first autonomous road trains, industry […]

www.mineralresources.com.au

 

[Jumbo]

In a local instance; I wonder how an autonomous truck will chain up over Snoqualmie Pass in the winter. Or any other winter pass.

 

[Nige]

A bit like comparing apples and oranges. The Australian project is only ever likely to be feasible using autonomous trucks because of a general lack of people in the area where it’s located, let alone drivers. Oh, and they don’t have passes, a winter, or snow to contend with there either.

 

[Jumbo]

A bit like comparing apples and oranges. The Australian project is only ever likely to be feasible using autonomous trucks because of a general lack of people in the area where it’s located, let alone drivers. Oh, and they don’t have passes, a winter, or snow to contend with there either.

Oh, I know, but the advertisements and the promotional material paint a whole other world.

 

[Nige]

Oh, I know, but the advertisements and the promotional material paint a whole other world.

Not quite another world, but at least another continent.

 

[DMiller]

When the world goes Autonomous who is gonna buy all the crap they have no money for as not working?
I really can see issues if a Autonomous Ship passes stranded Humans, they do ever get picked up the suits will fly against the carrier.

 

[Gary RG]

I don't know. I think autonomous has its place. Certainly on private haul roads, especially mining, where it's already very hard, if not down right impossible to get and retain workers.

 

[Truck Shop]

In a local instance; I wonder how an autonomous truck will chain up over Snoqualmie Pass in the winter. Or any other winter pass.

Auto Chains-By the time I left this last April all tractors had a set of auto chains, trailers will be next.
The reason for them-the drivers would get lazy and refuse to install two sets of singles and two drag
chains. They would set in a crowded truck stop eating roller dogs waiting for the chain sign to drop.
Auto chains could be deplored remotely. What I said above is the reason driverless trucks will take
place-way too tough to find help that wants to do the job and do it correctly.

 

[TCat]

When the world goes Autonomous who is gonna buy all the crap they have no money for as not working?
I really can see issues if a Autonomous Ship passes stranded Humans, they do ever get picked up the suits will fly against the carrier.

Apparently you haven't read up on universal basic income yet.

 

[92U 3406]

If an autonomous vehicle ever even so much as scuffs the paint on my vehicle I'll be suing big time.

 

[Nige]

If an autonomous vehicle ever even so much as scuffs the paint on my vehicle I'll be suing big time.

Make sure you have one (or more) dashcams to prove that you were in the right otherwise you won't have a leg to stand in IMHO because the autonomous trucks will have cameras everywhere.

 

[CM1995]

Can’t wait until fully autonomous machine technology is evolved enough and affordable for small contractors. I’ll be at 5he front of the line to purchase and deploy.

The way I see it is we will not be eliminating any current personnel just not needing to hire more. If we can double or triple our production with autonomous my guys can make 2-3 times more supervising the machines.

Autonomy is coming and here to stay. Either learn and embrace it in the business world or be left on the sidelines.