CCJ

June 2015

Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal

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JACK ROBERTS is Executive Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail jroberts@ccjmagazine.com or call (205) 248-1358. truly driverless vehicle. Keep this in mind, however: For all of the high-end vehicles Daimler sells all over the globe, the company opted to launch the world's first road-legal autonomous vehicle through its flagship North American truck OEM. Not May- bach, not a super-luxurious Mercedes-Benz sedan, but Class 8 trucks. That sends a huge message not just to this industry but also to society at large: Trucking is vital for our sustained economic success. Daimler understands that on a profound level. But the trucking industry faces many challenges and problems. Right now, the single biggest, overriding and never-ending problem is simply finding drivers to keep freight moving. So what are OEMs supposed to do? Just tell fleets "too bad"? No. Innovation, daring, initiative and action are needed. Freightliner accepted that challenge. It stepped up to the plate and knocked the ball out of the park, and it deserves all of the credit in the world for such a brave move. But in the near term, it's the status quo for trucking, fleets and drivers. Despite Freightliner's dramatic news, there is an awful lot of work to do before autonomous commercial vehicles make a significant impact on the way fleets and drivers operate in this country. For starters, an autonomous truck is an incredible achievement in its own right. But as Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard of Daimler AG's board of directors noted in his comments, that technology is handicapped severely by a lack of smart highways and a pool of similarly connected smart vehicles nearby with which to communicate and interact. That's a tall order considering the current state of this country's infrastructure. We can't even afford to patch some of our potholes at the moment, so we're a long way from creating the sort of intelligent and dynamic highways re- quired for a Level 3 vehicle like the Freightliner Inspiration. Will that ever happen? Yes, if America is serious about remaining a great nation in a global economy that becomes ever- more dependent on logistics and freight. Now that Freightliner has thrown down the autonomous truck gauntlet, how will this industry – and this nation – respond? commercial carrier journal | june 2015 23 Want more equipment neWs? Scan the barcode to sign up for the CCJ Equipment Weekly e-mail newsletter or go to www.goo.gl/Ph9JK. Freightliner technical engineer Jim Martin demonstrated the autonomous drive function. In the cab, the vibe was more familiar than futuristic, aside from some high-tech instrumentation and information centers. Freightliner showcased the Inspiration truck to industry press in Las Vegas, Nev.

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