And what if the millions of trucks already on the road could become autonomous

This is the challenge initiated by former Google engineers along with employees from Tesla and Amazon. Who founded Otto, a San Francisco based. startup in The company develops an autonomous driving aftermarket kit for trucks. The firm already has several trucks on the road testing the technology.
For only US $ 30,000, all trucks manufactured since 2103 could become self-driven, which is much cheaper than buying the new Daimler Freightliner that will be available only in 2025. » “We are developing a suite of sensors, software and truck enhancements coming together in a product that can be quickly outfitted on existing trucks, » the company wrote on its website.
Otto’s kit will allow the trucks to operate autonomously on the road safely keeping within a lane, maintaining a set speed, and slowing down or stopping as necessary. The company says it has demonstrated its technology on two vehicles on Interstate 5 and Highway 101 in California with minimal human intervention. As is the case with Daimler’s rig, the trucks do not change lanes by themselves, they can only slow down and follow the slower vehicles. This in itself is good news for anyone who has ever been stuck behind a slow truck passing a slightly slower truck.
Otto says its trucks should eventually be able to operate without a driver at the wheel. Someone will always be on board, but not necessarily at the wheel. Otto said she has conducted limited trials, where regulation allows it
With its kit, Otto hopes to solve some major problems on the roads.
Only in the United States, there are 4.3 million trucks responsible freight transportation on the highways. On any given day, trucks move 70 percent of all goods in the US which corresponds to 14 billion tons of freight per year, according to the Ministry of Transportation of the United States.
In addition, the trucks pose safety problems for drivers on the road. According to data from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, truck traffic accounted for only 5.6 percent of all US miles, but is the cause of 9.5 percent of all deaths that occur on the road .
Due to federal regulations, a truck can drive 11 hours a day with a single driver. After 10 hours, the accident rate becomes exponentially higher. With Otto’s system, the truck can drive with 24/7 security, which more than doubles its capacity utilization. Which is in itself a very strong financial argument.