In the Nevada desert, one truckmaker is testing a
big rig that can drive itself. Jack Stewart joins the
truck driver in the passenger seat.
What does it feel like to be driven by a computer the
size of a truck?
Remarkably underwhelming, it turns out. But that’s
exactly what the team at Daimler Trucks North
America want. They have just been awarded the first
license for an autonomous commercial vehicle on the
roads of the United States. The license was granted in
Nevada, a state known for its progressive attitudes to
self-driving vehicles.
Self-driving cars tend to steal the headlines, but the
autonomous vehicles most of us are likely to interact
with first are going to be trucks. The giant big rigs
that haul almost everything we buy, would be much
safer if drivers do not get fatigued on long trips. They
are also far more efficient if they can platoon
together (which BBC Future has talked about
before, and other companies are also working on).
A driver will have to be behind the wheel, ready to
take over in situations the computer cannot handle,
such as roadworks or bad weather, but in other
situations he or she would be free to take their eyes
off the road.
Daimler’s truck is capable of “level three” self-driving
– on a scale that goes from zero to four - which
means it can take over the driving itself if required.
But the company says the driver will only become a
passenger under a controlled set of circumstances.
The system was first demonstrated in Germany last
year but on a closed section of road. When BBC
Future joins the testing team, it’s on a section of a
public highway. And on Nevada’s freeways, the driver
can now chill out, or even take care of paperwork on
the truck’s built-in tablet.
The 40-tonne, 16m-long vehicle drives along at
highway speeds with the computer in charge, and the
drive is entirely uneventful.
If it turns out the truck does need some input from
the driver – such as if it needs to turn off at an exit
or is approaching road works, the driver takes back
control.
“The system is called ‘Highway Pilot’, so this is on
freeways and highways at this point. We don’t have it
for the inner city,” says Steve Nadig, chief engineer at
Daimler Trucks North America. He says there is some
monitoring work needed that will keep the driver in
his seat, but that his workload will be light enough to
allow him to do other things.
“Right now, the driver spends 10 hours behind the
wheel of the vehicle, and I can tell you from personal
experience, that’s very fatiguing,” says Nadig. “In
order to relieve him of some of his duties, we think
the driver will be more fit, focus on some of his
logistics work… and give him more rest in the bunk
than he’s had in the past.”
The truck’s system tells the driver when autonomous
mode can be activated – and also gives him a
countdown when he needs to resume control of the
vehicle.
And there are clues too for the other drivers that the
automated truck would share the roads with; the
autonomous model has LED lights that turn different
colours according to whether a human – or a
computer – has control

Really?