Axios reports that “at least a half dozen truck companies are working” on “automated freight delivery,” with “tests in various stages of development.” Starsky Robotics’ Florida “demonstration was believed to be the first unmanned, high-speed test of a heavy-duty commercial truck on a public highway.” Starsky “says it’s taking a more practical approach that combines highway automation with teleoperation, allowing remote drivers to navigate trucks between distribution centers and the highway.” During its Florida demonstration a Starsky truck “navigated a rest area near Orlando,” with “the remote driver sitting behind 3 computer screens in an office 2 hours away in Jacksonville,” For now, Starsky Robotics trucks will be “accompanied by chase vehicles in case something goes wrong and a human driver needs to jump into the cab to steer a stopped truck off the highway,” which shows “automated trucking is getting closer, but the instincts and knowledge of human drivers are still needed.”
Forbes reports Starsky Robotics “began testing its automated and remotely operated semi-trucks with no human safety driver recently on a stretch of Florida highway.” The company “said it’s the first company to test an unmanned 18-wheeler on a stretch of U.S. highway–and doing so by combining an onboard self-driving system with a remote operator standing by to guide the vehicle when necessary.” CEO and Founder Stefan Seltz-Axmacher said, “This is literally the first time anyone has taken the person out of the vehicle on a public highway.”
From the news release of the American Association for Justice.
