How Long-Haul Trucking Works
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- čas přidán 15. 06. 2020
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Music by epidemicsound.com
Select footage courtesy the AP Archive
References:
[1] www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations... eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...
[2] afdc.energy.gov/files/u/publi...
[3] www.eia.gov/electricity/month...
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There should be a movie about a truck driver couple who have been married for 10 years but don't really know each other because one of them is always asleep.
genius
Basically summed the movies up in 5 sentences lol
There is a couple like this in Terry Pratchet's Guards Guards
Thats a no shitter
Lol, funny but might work
Me, a long haul OTR truck driver: "Oh hell yeah, time to learn shit I already know"
Did you consult for this episode?
Well, did you think he did well explaining your field?
Better then me. "As an OTR truck driver lets see what they get wrong."
Ryan50Ryan Seems pretty well as an intro. Covered HOS rules, truck stops, working in pairs, etc. The only thing I've only heard of online is the automated trucking and the Tesla semitruck. Everything else seems fine, except for the dentists and other weird stuff at truck stops.
Me, airline employee: welcome to my world.
“One driver will sit behind the wheel in the lead truck, and a series of driverless autonomous trucks will follow” - the next Fast & Furious movie heist script is writing itself lol
Lol, I love it....that will be the plot in fast and furious 25
I thought they already did
Sooo it's a less efficient train...
As a driver I think this video skips over many of the duties of a driver. We are often put in a weird security guard status, ensuring that freight stays safe and untampered between shipper and receiver. Drivers also keep shippers honest because shippers sometimes cheat and load heavier loads than the bills reflect, which could be an issue when they are already loading trucks to their capacity. Weather is a major reason to keep drivers in the trucks, especially if trucks get electrified because the range with bad weather will become an issue and being able to navigate a snowstorm is also a problem for a computer that can't chain the tires or see the road though an Icey windshield
Very good point. Going driverless opens up so many possibilities for fraud, theft, and ignoring safety regulations, no matter how flawlessly the technology becomes. Trucks will never be driverless, if they go extinct then only because of trains.
The robot claws will activate ice picks & the cyborg Lazer vision can see the road....
@@rondevree8207 They'll turn into Optimus Prime
Yeah, there is quite a bit of information left out or quite frankly just plain wrong as someone who has spent the last decade on the manufacturing side of the industry.
the technology to make the trucks driverless is powerful. But just as he said there is some nuance to it, Safety of course is an issue but so to is repair and sabotage. No doubt there will be a need for remote monitoring but the fact is although you not going to illuminate all the trucking jobs quite a few will be. The question is how many, and how many will the enhanced industry be able to employ? Personally I think the service industry is where the expansion needs to be. Human beings are naturally social creatures that need tribal iteration and affirmation. Its the reason office buildings have not gone obsolete at the end covid pandemic. @@HAL-oj4jb
Since Air transport is hampered he has moved on to other means of transport.
Feels like a breakup and moving on :(
Don't worry, they'll be back together again, they're just on a break
HOLY HOLY!!! I can proudly say that I have the two HOTTEST women on this planet as MY GIRLFRIENDS! I am the unprettiest CZcamsr ever, but they love me for what's inside! Thanks for listening saniep
no such thing as bx or not, laugh any nmw
This video mentioned air cargo, so he met his plane quota.
Air transport isn't hampered. Cargo airlines are thriving, and many passenger airlines are converting their fleet to cargo operations.
I am a long haul OTR trucker. I am impressed with your knowledge. I’ll be around for a while though. They aren’t as close to autonomous trucks as one would think.
Super_B with AI comes great risks even if they suceed imagine the AI getting hacked it is very scary. There is also glitch and that is scary too let alone unpredictable world they cant perfect the predictable Operating systems such as windows mac and smart phones there is virus hacking glitches well we can give them a pass because it is just on Operating system but this is something serious there is no room for Error glitch or virus must be 100% and i tell you it will never be 100%
It’s one thing to have them, it’s going to be even harder tho to get them legalised
Super B is a f'n bot, Truck drivers dont use "trucker" to describe their job . FN BS HERE. The VIDEO is mostly bs to boot . .."one would think" lmao cause over half the drivers driving I95 speak NO English .
I have driven plenty of tractors that are virtually self driving, let's just say I'm never volunteerily getting into a fully self driving vehicle. Unreliable is an understatement.
Would you recommend long haul trucking and is it a good salary?
Considering the "train" concept, with one driver in the lead vehicle, what about an even longer autonomous "train" of trucks, on a dedicated truck only lane, along the most common routes (you could call these "tracks")? To make it even more efficient, you can put one big engine in the front to provide the locomotion, and then just directly connect the trailers together. You could have tens and eventually even hundreds of trailers in these so called "trains". Why hasn't anyone thought of this sort of road?
That sounds absolutely brilliant, but people who fill their trucks with GALLONS probaly never heard of a train
Yeah but you see the problem is how to get the cargo directly from the trains to the stores, I don’t know of any stores that have train stations directly dropping off goods from them. You still need trucks.
@@cherrychris5068 sure. But you don't need trucks to drive from LA to NYC you could just use trucks to distribute them from the station to the surrounding area
Why not use a real train then lmao
@@avocadosdiaboli5925
Sounds good on paper but...
A Truck can move freight directly to where it's customer wants it to. And it can change destinations with a phone call or e-mail.
Without having to transfer the freight from one vehicle (1st Truck) to a train to another (2nd Truck)...which increases costs.
Not to mention all the facilities, warehouses, security, and extra manpower needed to store said freight.
Instead of just giving a driver an address and delivery date...and not thinking about the driver until he shows up.
There is a lot more to trucking than driving.
I love how he points out that most drivers own their own trucks and then talks about companies going driverless. Actually the people who should be most concerned are the brokers, freight forwarders and dispatchers. We already have the technology to bypass all of them and send freight options straight to the truck. If the driver doesn't have to keep his eyes staring at the highway and hands on the wheel, he can choose the best load for his operation. Who knows, maybe we can even get rid of the mega carriers.
Freight forwarding is baked into the legal side of things because they bear the burden of shipment preparation and packaging for safe transport, so they're not going anywhere.
Dispatching won't go anywhere because someone has to be the central coordinator to send trucks to where they're needed, when they're needed. Also, they have to keep the truckers properly scheduled to maintain legal compliance and match up with shipper/receiver operating hours. Trucking can't work like Uber and still *work* .
Brokers? Well yeah, those middle-men can be cut out, and probably should be. However, any small time trucker ever caught, trying to deal directly with shippers (going around brokers) will find himself parked permanently, as brokers will simply blacklist and freeze him out of the industry. So they operate a lot like a hybrid cross between a medieval guild and modern day mafia.
Drivers can select the next load while unloading bc they r stopped. Or really anytime they rnt driving
8:05 Imagine just trying to merge on to the highway and a stack of 20 trucks is blocking you
You can find 20-truck convoys anywhere on interstate 81 thru Virginia. Try a trip down that road-it’s a white-knuckle experience
Evan Running yes but they move over for merging traffic. I don’t think autonomous truck convoys will be a reality in the next 5 years but who knows what the future holds
Imagine putting your foot on the accelerator and getting up to speed. Learn to drive properly and stop coming to my office acting the fool
@@evanrunning9770 I used to live in DC and decided to go that way to my parents to avoid the parking lot on I-95...I never went that way again.
@IVAeroVI Those convoys on I81 do not move over for merging traffic. They’re either in the right lane causing problems for people getting on the highway. Or in the left lane slowing everything to a grinding halt due to elevation changes. I hate traveling on that road.
My dad was a long haul truck driver. He hauled haz-mat, so team driving was off limits for him. He would leave Monday morning and come home Friday evening. He had a love hate relationship with the job. He said he saw some of the most beautiful scenes, met great people at truck stops, but it did his body bad. He has neuropathy in his clutch foot, and wrist problems in his shifting wrist. Towards the end of his career he got an automatic truck and said it was a dream.
He recently retired to log truck driving which was one of his first loves. He loves the woods.
Edit to add: after dealing with diverticulitis for several years, he had his entire colon removed, doctors said logging is too rough on his body. At 62 he can't stop working, so now he hauls scrap metal for a cousin 3 days a week. Nice truck, paved the whole way, and only driving 4 to 5 hours a day.
Seems like he's lived a rich life and raised an eloquent daughter. Glad he's now able to do what he loves.
I don't believe everyone needs to aspire to change the world; I think it's often enough to do our best in these smaller ways and let change ripple outwards from there.
My son did interstate in Australia driving road trains ( semi with a lot more trailers ). Would go west coast to east in 45 hours nonstop with 2 drivers. The tractor was serviced on each side of the country every time so 2 services per week 1 major 1 minor. South Australia is pretty much a state to collect lots of infringements, They have a bad reputation even got a fine for a spelling mistake in the logbook. The police said the place he departed. did not exist . The pay was good twice as much as his trade as a chef. Now only does within the state still good pay but better hours.
The man loves his wood
Sounds like a good man who raised a wonderful daughter
from long haul to log haul haha
Huge shout out to the NOVA SCOTIA welcome sign at 10:59. WE MADE IT!! WE'RE ON CZcams!!! 2021, BABY!!!
👎
Pogchamp
if i take a path around 2 colliding black holes but haven't quite touched yet where i can end up in the past of when i started journey therefore backwards time travel is a thing
👎
Haha no
One of the most important jobs today, and low-key underrated. Respect for all truck drivers out there carrying the weight of the world economy✊🙏
"In America it is 11 hours, Europe 9 hours"... and South Africa 16 to 36 hours, while avoiding weight bridges and customs police.
@Doktor Doof yes because a day has 36 hours lol
It's the same thing in US, as long as you willing to accept the risk.
@@ILIASANASTASIS you didn't have to say it, we got the joke
@@ILIASANASTASIS r/woosh
NMS Why do you try to ruin every joke you see?
tbh autonomous convoys sound a bit like road trains with extra steps
Why not just put tires on a train engine and then pull like 15 semi trailers?
@@keeganharris186 Pulling multiple trailers is really dangerous, a small movement at the front becomes a massive movement at the back. Think of a whip, your hand moves slow but the end breaks the sound barrier
More like Trains without rails.
Pretty much. The whole reason trucking is more often used than trains is logistical and accessibility. This just makes trucking more efficient.
If you want to ship by train, you have to have a truck loaded at your warehouse, truck drops off at train deopot, then it has to get unloaded at the end and have another truck pick it up to take it to the end warehouse.
It's just more complicated and slower depending on distance and whatnot.
@@keeganharris186 that's what Australians do.
I did ORT with my dad when I was younger I few years back. This is such a human approach to explain the job and I'm glad you did your homework.
My dad had a rig from the late 90s, so he didn't have to worry about Elogs. He would drive 14-16 hours a day sometimes.
My brother is a truck driver, he has been honestly since i was a child or more (i'm 25). He truly loves what he does, we are from Costa Rica and he has been working for a couple months on the US just hauling from coast to coast even tho he doesnt even speak english, it is truly astonishing how dedicated he is, when he is about to come to Costa Rica he would pick up a international Haul from the US to here and drive it, usually takes 12-15 days of all day driving all across half of america.
I'm a software engineer and i cant think of having such dedication for a job.
So basically they're trying to turn trucks into trains?
Yes truck trains that block traffic on interstates.
@@dannydaw59
Everyone: In 2030 we'll definitely have flying cars
Reality: *sad traffic congestion noises*
@@dannydaw59 Except that with convoys of automated trucks, there will be far more organization, because instead of 20 different people all driving on their own, all jockeying for position, you will have 1 driver, and eventually no driver, leading the convoy. The number of trucks isn't going to somehow increase any more than the current rate just because they're automated, all that will change is they'll drive more efficiently. Honestly, the best thing for traffic (and safety) is for more vehicles to be autodriven.
And trains into planes
@@Shenaldrac But trains? steel on steel with OLE is much more efficient
The airline industry is suffering such a monumental crisis that wendover productions has to make a video not related to airlines.
Now no one can save the airlines as wendover productions has also deserted them.
RIP aviation.
Did you not see the Wendover video dedicated to aviation during COVID-19?
@@cwg73160 Issa joke
Good riddance to the bastards
J N A joke has to have some truth to it. Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of words put together.
In this case, Wendover definitely made a video on aviation regarding the pandemic.
33 SixtyNine It talked about aviation during the COVID pandemic.
The comment section throws even more light on trucking. I don't know the first thing about those rigs but I know to fully appreciate those who drive them. From groceries to medicines and everything in between, thank you, truckers.
There’s something about truckers and fascination about them. I remember how they were the coolest people in my mind when I was growing up
I did long haul for 12 months a few years ago, and drove team for 4 of those 12. At first it was fun. Got see lots of new places I'd never been before. But the other guy I was with was an ahole, so I went driving by myself for the remaining 8 months. Fun factor kept going down. All I saw was loading bays, hookers at truck stops, and blacktop. As soon as I came back from a trip, my dispatcher bugged me to head back out on the road. 2 weeks driving, 2 days off. To heck with that! Now I drive locally and I'm in the comfort of my own bed every night.
same
Tell me about the hookers part..
@@heesingsia4634 Lot lizards
Same here in UK. We dont do as much double manning but different people like different things. Nights out, day work etc and there a good mix of work out there.
Yo bro I’m trying to go local just 1 more month till I have a year of experience. What company you work for?
Wendover is like a solar eclipse:
He doesn't come out often, but when he does it's a treat.
And it can blind you.
Because you gonna look at the solar eclipse too long :D
(Meaning: you gonna watch Wendover too much)
I don't think he's ever come out, and if he has, good on him for embracing who he is
Like Internet Historian.... But he's been gone for mknths
But, when it is out 50% of the time it’s covered by a plane
Fun fact - At certain weights in various US states, you have to pay specific taxes in order to discourage people from hauling specific loads/using trucks that are too heavy.
Then when the state needs said products, they lift the regulation to get them out of a bind and want to go on as before. This happens when natural disasters occurred an States need production quickly.
Great video I've been avoiding it for a while because I don't like to think about work when I'm not but this is pretty spot on minus how close autonomous trucks are as there is so much more to driving than actually driving.
I’d love to see an self-driving truck back into a dock at some of the facilities built many years ago for smaller trailers. Then there are all of the non-driving duties to be done by whom? I’m so glad I’m retired.
This is information that I never thought I needed, but am grateful to know
Get a life😂 I see u every where
@@henryfreeman6113 get a life😂 you see him everywhere means you're everywhere.
You again Nice
Me, An American Truck Simulator/Euro Truck Simulator 2 player:
My time has come
Come join prime my dude, best get in now before the automated shit kills the job.
I thought the same
Honestly I suspected the video was sponsored by SCS Software haha
Well, that is another possible cost savings. Remote driving from areas with cheap labor, don't even need that one person in the convoy and you can switch drivers as easily as changing shifts at a call centre.
@@tybirous3417 Don't work for a mega. Work for a smaller carrier where you're not a number in a spreadsheet.
I love your channel. Everyone should watch and learn. I just watched the aircraft carrier one...could you do one on the inside workings of how it runs for all the people?? Food, laundry, shopping??? So facinating..
This is a great video. I’ve been doing a lot of roads trips in the United States recently and the amount of trucks on the road is striking. I stayed across from a truck stop in Tucumcari New Mexico and I swear it had at thousands of trucks (it obviously didn’t).
Become a trucker and get paid to do road trips.
Can we all just take a moment, and appreciate these truck drivers for still working in the midst of the current chaotic situation? For essentially delivering our foods to the markets.
The powers that be don't care, we'll still be on a crap pay while being pushed for every single second we can legally drive
Thank you, rarely see anyone appreciate what we do. Mostly dumb car drivers cutting us off.
Atleast they still have a job/are being paid. Hell i’d consider them rather lucky that they get to continue as usual
The The Gatekeeping appreciation I see
The The lucky? I don’t know about that. Most places that we go to, we have to deal with people that don’t keep their distance neither wear masks.
“Autonomous driving on highways is relatively easy, since road conditions are standardized and predictable.”
_Laughs in New Jersey_
*laughs in Wyoming winter experience*
Laughs in Highway Construction
@@JoorJoanna ok NAZI
@@Redbikemaster this guy knows whats up
Laughs in Chicago
Fascinating and informative, like all your presentations. Always something new to learn!
I have to say, as a 15 year trucking veteran, you nailed this one flawlessly.
35 cents per mile?
“To ensure safety and compliance” trucker here, it’s mainly about compliance and revenue generation
One could argue the 10 hours of mandated rest is a key contributor to the safety aspect though. I'm not a trucker, but out of curiosity sir, what makes you exclude safety as something that is trying to be ensured? Curious to hear from someone who actually lives it.
Thanks for what you do btw. I've always had a huge admiration for long haul truckers. You guys are truly a different breed.
Major respect to truckers. They keep the world moving, get paid shit, can't relax after gruellingly long shifts, have to live in separate bubbles while on the job and get harassed by their employers to do more for less and in a more and more restrictive way. Like cattle.
But who will be laughing when you finally take over ✊
@@ramflow8466 not OP but I am a trucker. I disagree with his statement that it's not safety oriented... Though I'm not going to disagree that it's revenue oriented as well.
There've been many a study and if you look at the fatal accident rate before and after HOS regulations picked up and became more strict with ELD's and whatnot it's clear as day that hours of service regulations equals safe driving...
Of course you can't forget that trucks have been getting better and better safety equipment with ABS, automatic braking systems, automatic transmissions, engine brakes, and whatnot, along with better training with how to stop without jackknifing on ice and what to do if you lose brakes and how not to lose them in the first place, following distance, etc but I believe the laws were written with safety in mind...
One could say the HOS is fine but ELD's were mandated because of revenue but that's equally as stupid of an argument. Before ELD's we needed to keep paper logs and I'm pretty sure you can hand them to a 3rd grader and they would be able to figure out how to cheat them... ELD's are the same thing but you're not able to do that; they're electronic logs that are tied in with the truck itself and can be accessed without stopping the truck (atleast I've been told this)
@@Fetidaf ELDs cannot be accessed while the truck is moving. It'll display the various hours we have available to drive, work, etc, but all other functions are locked for safety reasons while the truck is in motion. Typically, it locks up at/around 5 mph.
@@mikedescoteau6420 I meant that as in can be seen by law enforcement without pulling over the truck... I know they know what you're hauling and where you've been based on your VIN and I was told that the Qualcomm in particular sends weigh stations a basic overview of your HOS but that was during an inspection; he asked what kind of logs I was using (before ELD mandate) and I told him it's a Qualcomm and he just looked at his tablet/PDA thing and then walked away without even looking inside the truck so I'm not sure if he was just being lazy since I was working for a large company that has a good service record or what... Very well could've been that and that's just a tall tale that they're able to do that... That's over my pay grade
Although I did pass through a weigh station once or twice completely out of hours but it's possible they just didn't look that time
Thanks for this video. As a truck driver, albeit "home daily", I see A LOT of bad information about trucking posted online by people who don't know what they're talking about.. Especially Tesla youtubers, a lot of them get more wrong than they get right. Once they use the Tesla "semi" misnomer, you know the bad info is coming. Either way, I would like to say that this video is 99% accurate (truckers getting paid $.35/mile and 6mpg for efficiency are outdated numbers) I appreciate the research that you put into the video.
Something that I've been looking into myself is, per your footnote#3, transportation electricity is $.10/kwh and overall electricity in the USA is $.10/kwh across sectors, but Tesla claims that tesla truck owners will only be charged $.06/kwh in their operating costs breakdown. I would looove to know how they plan on getting 6 cent electricity, considering their own superchargers currently cost $.26/kwh on the low end and $.40/minute at the high end. But IDK why I'm ranting about this here lol
Possibly the lower electricity price will be achieved by smart charging, ie charging at night when the energy prices are lower, and avoiding high price slots like in the morning and end of noon when everyone is cooking.
For us non-truckers, what is the issue with the term "semi" for Tesla trucks?
@@scottfranco1962 The term refers to whether the trailer has wheels in the front ("full trailer") or only in the rear ("semi"), with the front being supported by the truck. Thus, using it to describe a truck is technically incorrect, as it only describes the trailer part of it.
Truck is a cover term for basically all cargo vehicles (eg Cybertruck and other pickups as an example), the actual term for the "tugging" part of a rig is tractor. So Tesla's should technically be called a Tractor Semi-Trailer.. I think.
However, I somewhat disagree. Language is ever changing, and semi is generally accepted slang for class 7-8 tractor trailers.
@@elfensky idk what you said but you sound like you know what you are saying
Maybe hydrogen could be a better option for trucks? It will still need to be produced and transported as well though, unless it it produced on site.
I’m honestly just here for the smooth as hell transitions into the end of the video sponsor plug.
Wendover Productions: Truckers will soon no longer be needed
Me, a 14 year old that wants to be a trucker when he grows up: :(
same....
same...
Don’t worry. Well still need them
Yeah don't worry bout it , the driver less cars are still killing people. In a much higher regulated system such as US trucking, driver less is still a LONG way off while you may find more autonomy in driving by the time your involved in it there is still going to be a driver, and inner city drivers will basically always be needed. There is also Bus driving if you are set on Commercial Driving for your source of income
just play eurotruck
as a long haul trucker, even though I knew everything in this video I still found it very entertaining and it feels good sam took time to focus on a industry that most people dont care about because we do our jobs the right way. as the saying goes 'if trucks stop, america stops'
There is much more to OTR trucking then Wendover hasn't got a clue about. With constantly changing weather patterns and temperatures, leave alone road conditions it's far more complex than shown here. My team averaged 6000 mls a week for a long time. I can't imagine the support "machinery" self driving trucks will need to have in place for this to be profitable.
Not to mention trip planning. Being able to adjust a route to avoid a fatal accident is key to on-time delivery. GPS technology currently isn’t able to do that consistently.
I drove for 28 years, and have no regrets, had a blast overall! I only want to say one thing to prospective drivers, NO YOUR LIMITS and don't drive beyond them, period!!!! :)
Sam: American trucks only have the bare minimum of comforts
American trucks: *literally twice as long as european ones*
Yeah, it was a bit americocentric. It'd be interesting to hear more about the differences. Do the European truckers have fewer accidents? Do they make more money?
@@rasmis YES THANK YOU FOR THE IDEA! I love it. America isn't the only country in the world lol.
rasmis what makes you think they make more or have fewer accidents?
Linas Krulikauskas I think most of this channels viewers are American
@Will Smith - The under-cab engines exist in the U.S. too, though. I do see them on the roads on occasion (maybe they're old models?). Also, Volvo is one of the absolute best-selling trucks in the U.S., at least from what I see doing a lot of traveling. Scania used to sell trucks here but have not in a while. Mercedes has re-introduced its Actros rigs to the market as well in limited dealerships as a test phase. I'm actually surprised IVECO hasn't re-entered the American market given the revived popularity of Italian cars here and the presence of manufacturing plant in South America.
Coming from a long line of truckers in my family, people don’t realize how much the country depends on trucks. If you aren’t on a runway or a train track, or you need trucks
Yo
In reality truckers have quite a vast influence on the control of economic prosperity of any country.
If all truckers decided to join forces and strike (for whatever reason) it could shut down the country.
Alot of leverage but some of the worse working & pay/conditions?.
Maybe that's why such a push for Automation.?
I don't think auto trucks are viable just yet close, but there's still quite a few obstacles.
Like for instance
City work, insurance, mixing AI and human traffic, computer glitches.
Think truckers a safe for a while yet
The World relies on trucks, being the USA, Russia, Europe in general, or even Japan.
Ships too
you can't stop progress. I am sure that this will eventually happen. i am proud that I had my opportunity to drive the big rigs!
I’m about to start truck driver training at my local community college. Looking forward to better pay than what I have right now. If I had to guess, the self driving will come one day but I bet I will be able to have a full career.
So how did it go? Are you driving trucks these days, or did you say forget this! LOL ;)
I drove truck over the road (long haul) for 6 years, beginning in 2006. Much of what was covered in this video is true, except APU's and plug-in services being recent innovations. Even back in 2006, APU's were not that rare. They save a great deal of maintenance and fuel. They are quieter. They are cleaner. They are safer (for the human sleeping in the vehicle and the environment.) I had one on the truck I bought because I refused to pay for idling the truck all night. I caught a lot of crap on the road because I bought the same truck a large company would and set it up like one. My thought was, if their millions of dollars in research told them this was the best method, I'm going to trust it because cost per mile is even more critical for my success than theirs.
I got out of the business because it just isn't the lifestyle for me. I was very good at it, but I also hated it. Truckers in the United States are very underpaid, undervalued, and over-targeted by predatory law enforcement officers and agents.
For the idea of single-driver truck convoys (disconnected trains, basically) there are a few areas where I have great concerns. If the driver is there to take control in poor driving conditions, how are they going to safely manage multiple independent vehicles WHILE enduring the stress of traversing a mountain pass in a snow storm? This will eventually cause a reversal of trends to require a driver in every vehicle again. Then there is the issue of highway merging, which will require the convoy communications system to constantly adjust and have different vehicle in different lanes, handling different circumstances, and not causing accidents from herky-jerky movements. That doesn't even touch on the issue of driver attention when they know they don't really have control. They will fall asleep out of boredom!
There is a reason pilots are still required in airplanes... Despite having aut-pilot systems for decades... Systems capable of handling point-to-point flights, including take-off and landing. This is a case of engineers working for "progress" that will never be able to last until we have true AI, at which point we have to worry about the computer brains deciding we are not worthy of life.
you nailed it.
They just want a driver to BE a fall guy if /when thing's go wrong. Can't blame AI. Lose a load of meat due to the reefer unit malfunction and see what happens. Get in a snow storm and roads are closed, experience drivers are needed.
@VaderxG so... Create a separate transportation network, to increase safety and reduce the demands on the AI. Why not make these "frieght highways" use their own independent routes and avoid the vast majority of driver conflicts. Better yet, why not connect all the trucks so they can increase capacity? Once connected, the system could strategically put many of the trucks on coast to save energy as well! Oh wait... We already have trains. Seriously, they are literally proposing MORE dangerous trains. It's ridiculous.
As far as AI, the people who do not fear it aren't thinking about it critically. Computers outperform humans on everything except abstract concepts, once they are taught how. If they gain the ability to learn for themselves and grasp abstract concepts, they will be on par with us... Only they will also be able to develop improvements to themselves. Once they have full autonomy and self-awareness... We have no idea how they will develop or respond. The bird doesn't know what it's like to be human, because it can't comprehend being a human, because it isn't a human. The same is true of humans and true AI.
Every realistic talk concerning autonomous driving in the near future of the trucking industry has always been about safety and to help assist drivers, not replace them. The mere thought that a single person could be left in charge of handling a large fleet of trucks / trailers on the road at one time is just absurd.
2:26 - 164,000 lbs! Think about that the next time you consider cutting off a semi because they're going too slow and compare that to the mere 3,000 lbs. your car weighs.
People still cut off trains, with steel on steel wheels with a braking distance of 2kms plus. They usually only do it once though
@@m2heavyindustries378 Not quite once. They almost do it once.
Tractor-trailers also have 10 sets of brakes, each of which has many times more braking power than all of the brakes on your car.
Your point is taken, though. However, I haven't seen someone cut-off a tractor-trailer in a long time. Meanwhile, my brother was sideswiped by a tractor-trailer who didn't see him, and left circular marks on his door from the tractor-trailer's lugnuts.
@@deusexaethera EVERY truck driver experience getting cut-off by a 4-wheeler every day. People in cars simply do not pay attention and thus never see the most common event in trucking.
@@tscottme: Alternately, there are so many cars on the road that, even though every truck gets cut-off every day, the percentage of cars involved is so small that it's insignificant to everyone except the affected truckers.
I'd love to see a video on how distribution centers work. We're surrounded by them where we live and I've just never understood how they work
No matter how much technology advances it can never replace a professional driver.
Me with over 400 hours of Euro Truck Simulator: The expert
a man of culture
Me with over 52560 hours of real life trucking experience
The ACTUAL Expert
300 in American Truck Simulator. Never left my 389.
666 in ets 2, 120 in ATS
AWeebPilot WithNoLife haha, to each their own. I switched to a w900 for this play through instead of my usual t680 and I’m not goin back
7:40 - My Simpsons memory kicked in and I remembered the episode when Homer and Bart drove a semi and they encountered a self-driving system. Add another to the count of Simpsons predictions!
Yes! Someone remembers!
I've been saying that for months, but nobody listens
What episode is that?
czcams.com/video/0eWTWwrJ3ag/video.html
Big thank you to truck drivers. I’m an Auxiliary Power Unit and trailer refrigeration unit mechanic for ThermoKing. It’s a crucial industry that often goes unnoticed.
near where i live, there is a Ashley furniture factory, and they have 2,500 trucks but only 1,000 are being driven because they can't find new drivers. also they (pre covid-19) had 10 factory sections but only 4 were making furniture because they couldn't find workers in the area.
“These trucks are visible on the highways of any country” not mine, we have bikes, buses, and Mercedes
Is this the real Kim like actual Kim ?
I've seen you 20 times
Thank you Kim-Jong-Un
Albania too
Burhanul Haque Shimul definitely a fak-
3:06 the bare minimum, you should see European trucks, especially when you got two eastern Europeans living in them for a month at a time
Oh, the SMELL!! I couldn't imagine. Well I can, I was in the army...
Of course, there is also increasing competition from railroads, especially with doublestack container trains that can carry the equivalent of circa 200+ single-trailer trucks on a single train.
Very true! but last mile transport (railway terminal->A->B->C) will still have to be done by trucks
I am watching this again and hearing him say trucks will be completely driverless is still insane. Just because the technology is there it is going to be a long time before you see driverless trucking.
I drove 9 hours in Europe now I'm on the other side of the continent!
I drove 11 hours and I haven't even made it out of Texas yet!
*laughs in australian*
You can drive 9 hours in a straight line starting in Germany and still be in Germany. Europe is larger than you think :)
@@clemensmosig7612 you can drive 9 hrs in a straight line in Florida and still be in Florida. And we’re 22nd largest state in terms of sq miles
The sun has risen and the sun has set and I am still in (rhymes with duckin) texas.
@@habegunt4802 yeah but that’s a whole country not just a state
I think a useful way of reducing labour costs and being able to convoy safely now could involve getting a really powerful truck and having it pull all of the trailers along in a kind of "train". In lack of a digital control system, rails could be used to stabilise the trailers. This would offer both less running resistance and allow a line of trailers possibly miles long. Safety could be ensured with dedicated rights of way across the country, similar to how limited access highways work. With a terminus in most major towns/cities, long haul trucking could truly become a thing of the past.
Fantastic video. Keep up the good work.
Im curious: wouldn't freight trains be even more efficient & faster for long distances?
...
The autonomous convoy just sounds like a high tech energy inefficient train
Does your grocery store sit next to a train depot? Does your small factory producing one truckload a week of deliveries? Does your small town even have a train track running through it, let alone a depot? How much inefficiency is added when your train now has to stop at every warehouse and small town to pick up and drop off goods? How many millions of miles of track have to be added to cover even most of the towns in the US?
We already use trains to great effect and high capacity, it's just that they're wholly inflexible and lend themselves to extremely high volume, low variability freight, like raw goods being moved from where they're produced to where they're turned into finished goods. The reality is that trains are cheaper and more efficient, so the market will use that option whenever it is viable. When you see trucks, it's because rail shipping is unviable and ineffective.
Road network is way more expansive than the rail network, no matter what the product has to be moved from the train to the distribution center, and they would do that by you guessed it, trucks.
@@logan09144 the entire east coast of Australia is basically on the same railway line, and in my experience, a lot of stuff that didn’t need to be on trucks, is still on trucks.
@@logan09144 The commenter did not say about not using trucks whatsoever. Trucks are absolutely fine in short-medium range haul, the problem is when you're transporting across an entire continent with a truck. You can still use trucks to deliver from the train depots to the final destination.
You would think! But actually, getting freight transferred to the railroad and getting it back from them can waste a lot of time. It's been more than 20 years since I worked at a company that moved freight via rail, but I remember freight from Chicago to Seattle or Portland taking 3-4 days minimum via train, while a truck could take freight directly from warehouse to warehouse in at least half that time.
Piggyback trailers were fastest. Containers would take slightly longer to interchange, and a boxcar, if you happened to have a rail next to your warehouse which we did, could take up to 3 weeks -- most of that time, it's sitting in a rail yard waiting for someone to move it to your siding. That was the cheapest option but almost nobody wanted to wait that long.
I can’t explain how much I love Wendover, I’m just a information freak.
Knowledge is power 🧧
8:18. That's a train, you're describing a train.
Let alone no need for batteries!
I honestly don't get why don't we use trains for cross-country hauling instead.
Although I guess the US railway infrastructure is extremely outdated and dogshit, so they'd have to depend on roads.
@@ebincd2362
The USA uses a buttload of cargo trains, more than any other nation on Earth.
Mistly, though, they ship bulk products like coal or oil, where there's rail lines right up to the end user.
Since there isn't a rail line to the Home Depot (for instance), you need a truck.
@@ebincd2362 Trains are used for cross country hauling (but you still need trucks to carry the freight to places trains are unable to go). It also costs more to build new train routes (routes are beholden to geography and state to state agreements on whether a train route can pass through that state or area).
@@ebincd2362 well I can say for Russia, the railway is gov owned, and reaches everywhere, but it's a hustle to order a shipment, so it's way easier to ship with cars, it's way more expensive, however no hustle with authorities and all that, which is a lengthy process
Great video, I argue that driving won't be replaced by autonomy for a long while or even ever.
My father was a long haul trucker. He spent 2x 3 weeks home with the family a year. ( We are a Hungarian family and he worked in Ireland)
7:57 - That just sounds like a train with extra steps
Lemme guess: There’s gonna be a long trunk hauling disaster in the near future
What do you mean?
I mean I saw a car carrier truck at a 45° angle on a highway offramp so....
khaled benali basically Wendover has a trend where he makes a video on a topic that eventually becomes a disaster. He made a video on how to stop a wildfire before the Australian bush fires, a video on how to stop a pandemic before Covid, and a video on how to stop Riots before the Riots for BLM around the world
I smell a Black Mirror season 6 episode!
Good guess.
Truckers world over deserve a lot of respect. They keep the world moving.
Glad I am not in the trucking industry anymore. The old days were a lot of fun. I am now involved in the precious metals business and glad of it.
Well, this is depressing to watch from the bunk of my rig
Safe travels!
@K Maxx There is no way in hell that is happening. Honestly, it would be surprising to me if that happened by 2050. The general public wouldn't feel comfortable having these massive trucks on the highway with no human behind them until autonomous driving is completely mainstream. The amount of infrastructure and investment needed by both the government and the people would be prohibitive.
The one example he used in the video, the convoys where the human is just in the lead truck, is also unrealistic. Imagine trying to merge onto the highway or change lanes but next to you there is a wall of trucks completely blocking your lane. Traveling in convoys with trucks right now is already illegal for this very reason.
It's not that there won't be autonomous trucks, of course there will be, but unmanned trucks are a different thing and are a long way off.
@@edkrassenstein5534 I see your point, but look at it this way:
15 years ago we didn't have Social Media and smart phones. They have fundamentally changed our society and some parts (privacy/security/predictability/news sources) would look very scary (still is) to some of us.
Once something becomes financially viable and convenient, it'll arrive so quickly it'll make your head spin. 2025 to 2035 we might experience such a change again, perhaps resulting in a 30-40% unemployment rate.
I hope you'll laugh in my face in 15 years about how wrong I was :'D
@K Maxx you think the majority of trucks will be unmanned by 2030? You clearly never been in Pennsylvania
@Coding Crusader "experimental gene therapy and wearing a mask like a slave" what world do you live in, those people just dont want to die or get horribly sick for a whole month.
As a european forwarding agent, I find it very interresting, to see how trucking works in America. Most things are very similar.
Some differences:
In europe in most states the maximum capacity is 40 tonnes for trailer trucks and 36 tonnes as well for semi-trailer trucks. Some states like Sweden or the Netherlands allow even bigger measures.
European trucks have smaller driver cabins. But on the other hand strikter work regulations.
However a lot of drivers are pressured to still continue driving, if the destination can't be reached within the 9 hour time frame. Also most rules don't apply to vans, so those drivers really have it hard.
In Europe most truck drivers don't own their truck, but are employed by a carrier company, that owns and operates the trucks.
In the European Union wage dumping is a huge problem. Scince the whole union is a single market, companies have the right to sell their service in other countries (with limitations). Unfortunately the wage differences are very high between the countries, so most drivers come from places like Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania. They are paid quite well in comparison to their countries average wages, but still it is cheaper than truck drivers from high wage countries like Belgium, France, Denmark, Sweden.
European trucks have smaller driver cabins. Also with semi-trailers and and trailers, the back weels are placed more to the front than in the US. I believe it is due to Europe having smaller streets and trucks having to make quite small curves and turns in cities.
Also for Europe truck transport is way more important than for the US. In the EU half of all tons per kilometer transported are transported by truck, in the US only 30%. In the US over 40% of tons per kilometer are transported by rail, in the EU only over 10%. Also sea transport is way more important for the EU, while pipelines and inland waterways are much more common in the US.
That's interesting, I work as a logistics coordinator in Canada.
Up here in Manitoba the max gross weight for a B-train is 63 metric tons, our roads don't last a long time due to the freezing so the idea is it doesn't matter if we destroy them with heavy trucks.
As for cab overs you have in Europe I believe you guys burn a lot more fuel because they are not as aerodynamic.
"Scince the whole union is a single market, companies have the right to sell their service in other countries"
How it works in N. America is for example a Canadian driver can deliver/ pickup from a US location from/to a Canadian location but not between US destinations, and Visa versa for American drivers. The US enforces it to the point where we have to hire a US firm to pick up our empty trailers from a warehouse and move them to another warehouse down the street in the US because our drivers are not allowed to.
"the back weels are placed more to the front than in the US."
Which also contributes to a rougher ride, I've heard that most drivers prefer a traditional configuration compared to a cab over, but you have to do what you do.
"In the EU half of all tons per kilometer transported are transported by truck, in the US only 30%"
Have to love the "green" EU burning so much fuel so they can maintain passenger rail nobody would use if it were not for the massive subsidies and crushing fuel and auto taxes.
@@TheOwenMajor Very interresting to hear, how it works in Canada. You are right, I haven't thought about aerodynamics, but it makes sense.
I had to google B-trains and from what I read in most states including Austria, my home state it is not allowed. Here we have a lot of bridges because of the mountain range th alps, so road maintenance is propapelly much more expensive than in Manitoba, plus it doesn't get that cold.
In the EU, a foreign truck is allowed to make up to 3 journeys within a country, then it has to leave it. But on international transports I believe there is no limit.
You are right, from a driver's perspective the US trucks are propapelly way better. Another comment mentioned in US and propapelly Canada too, the lenght of the truck is not included in the maximum lenght of the vehicle. Is that true? Because in Europe it is. This might explain the cab over trucks we use. Because otherwise you would have to reduce space for cargo. But i honestely have no idea why Europe did this law, that only hurts driver's comfort.
You are right. I also believe more freight should be put on rails again. During the past decade the rail lost a lot of it's market share to trucks. But I believe it is more due to freight transport on rail isn't as subsidized any more as it used to be, and trucks becoming more efficient and wages for truck drivers lower, in comparison to rail. But I am not shure about that. Still I love european passenger rail. Although there are certain parts of the rail network that reached their capacity limit, I don't think it is the primary reason why rail transport lost it's share. But still in that aspect North America is actually way greener. I also wonder how transports are counted, where semi-trailers, complete trucks or swap bodies are transported by rail. Wouldn't change the statistics much but I don't know how they counted it.
@@OnkelJajusBahn In Manitoba we go by overall length and trailer length, there are restrictions on both. However, the government has been pretty accommodating granting permits to trucking companies that want to exceed the length restrictions. I see a lot of trucks these days hauling intercity routes at 40m long.
My brother is a truck driver and as well as getting paid by the mile in the U.S. he also gets paid by the hour if he has to sit at the place where the load has to be loaded and unloaded.
Very interesting and friendly conversation guys! It is great to read more info from people actually working in the sector! 👍
This has been an insightful video for me. My grandfather is 69, lol, and spent most of his years as a truck driver. He has hundreds of stories and even had to certain jobs or else👀
11:03 NS/NB Border in Canada with a King Freight Lines truck. Drive for them and great people to work for.
0:58 when he says "hides in plain sight", he means "hides in plane sight"
Wendover cant do planes or helicopters Him: TRUCKS
Yay 21 likes
I bet he will upgrade his Doctrate in Aviation to Doctrate in Logistic in General.
Exactly what I was thinking. Lol
When you click on a video only to get Internet points
Next time it'll be submarines
The challenge for team drivers is trying to get a decent set of hours worth of sleep while the truck is moving. This is the equivalent of someone trying to continuously shake you awake.
It’s so ridiculous seeing the diagram of an “automated truck convoy” and seeing JUST HOW MUCH IT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE RAIL, WHICH IS INFINITELY MORE EFFICIENT AND COST EFFECTIVE.
"A compact cab with just the bare minimum of comforts"
*Laughs in European*
Gotta love those Volvo Globetrotters!
@@simpleinverso8628 if a globetrotter exists in india it would be a truckers dream
@@harshithsadhana7475 Trucks in India are pure hell
@Caп¡s Aпuв¡s i agree it is a bit exaggerated. the love for trucks is because your feel like king of road. there were some volvo trucks in india only in red color very old one like 90s they usually use it for heavy transport
Once again, the US and A, as the only country on Earth.
08:52
So all those jokes about “Cruise control allowing the Driver to go in back and make a cup of coffee” took 40 years to come to reality
With some of the ruts in the roads you can just about do it...
Very educational. Thanks.
I work with truckers everyday and they have said that if your truck is older than 2013 you do not have to run ELD (electric log device) which means you can run for longer than 9-11 hours a day if you want :)
Hi, I’m a long haul trucker in the United States. Been to every single city and driven 2.5 million miles.
How do you define 'city'?
Have a pleasant journey
convoys of driver-less trucks sounds utterly terrifying
So many things could go wrong.
Imagine the future where Truck Drivers work from home.
Each one does telepresense to one of many trucks, when needed for interacting with warehouse personnel, navigating local roads and parking areas, and monitoring things in general.
After playing Euro Truck and American Truck Sim games, I have great respect for truckers. Myself is working on merchant ships; not too much difference😅
"Now: 'Trucks,' on Wendover Productions"
*Modern Marvel's Theme*
Nice one.
Glad to see airplanes are still in your vids :D
I drive otr and your la to ny trip goes thru a bunch of places where it will never happen without a driver. Whether it’s traffic in the city’s, or high winds in the planes. Or even coming thru the mountains.
The issue with autonomous driving for trucks aren't the streets, it's the freight. In a semi more than 2/3 thirds are inconsistent: changing width, changing height, changing weight depending on which trailer you hook, hence autonomous driving for semis is so challenging, because you have to recalibrate on every trailer change.
While we can hypothesize that the industry will become fully automated, truckers are going to be 100% necessary in the future. If a truck is involved in an accident, has a mechanical issue, needs to be refueled (outside of New Jersey) or has some other form of problem that needs urgent fixing, this requires humans.
While they could be travelling in a convoy car or have some form of monitoring system to try and track everything, having a driver in the cab seems like the best solution.
The truck driver's job will likely go the way of the pilot, in that while a lot of pilots aren't going to be flying for a large amount of time, relying on the systems and pre-programming of their route, they'll still be necessary to try and correct errors or act in case of emergency.
Exactly. Automation is great for simple, predictable tasks, but there's no good substitute for the adaptability of a human behind the wheel. At least not yet.
I'm just curious, what's up with new Jersey?
Difference between a plane and a truck though, a plane can't exactly just pull over and wait for roadside assistance, a truck can. Wouldnt be surprised if the future ends up with a single person managing several trucks in a certain area with their own car to get between them, simply less humans to employ.
@@barbaldo New Jersey is (I believe) the only state in the US where the driver is not allowed to refuel their own vehicle. I must be done by a gas attendant.
We truck drivers fuel our own trucks in NJ
"In the US it's 11, in Europe it's 9."
"in the rest of the world... *shows 9-11* "
me: he still has plane references :)
Now this is epic
oof
LOL
"Allahu Ackbar"
@@hendrikdependrik1891 this was probably sarcasm but we praise our God by that so not making fun of it is appreciated......
Great and informate video!👍 I'm trucking in Finland, and I often cross misunderstood, than we could spent night on hotel. Some are even shocked to hear, how/where we live. Yeah, this is nasty job, but pay is good enough for me. (But I'm only driving in Finland... Driver's, who drive around Europe, thing's are not that good.)
My uncle is a trucker and my aunt travels with him. Pretty cool at least he doesn’t get bored in any way you look at it.
I congratulate everyone who said “First”, all 13 of you! Great Job
The guy who was first said "to" lol
Lurst
First
Says the Norwegian Communist, Thats a new one
Yeah those comments are great! Keep it up...🙃
Remember when trains used to do the autonomous freight?
remember when there weren't 100 kind's of soda's, 20 kinds of toilet papers etc etc on the shelves? Remember when You had to wait a month before You get Your package delivered? No? Good. Think about it for a bit.
Trains aren't autonomous (except for one in Western Australia).
Right. Cus a train pulls into a dock at the back of your local Walmart😹
@@kamilkarwat2706 I never knew trains used docks
Well shit they are putting our trailers on trains now
2:33 I thought I recognized that port of entry. I did, it's in my home town over 150 miles (3.75 hrs.) from the state border.
Oddly enough, the weigh station just north of Wisconsin, in a town called Powers, is hardly ever open. I live 20 minutes from it and have NEVER seen it open.
As a trucker since the 1980's, great video. Only major flaw was driver pay. ~30cpm is only avg for new drivers during their first 24 months, 50-60cpm is closer for more exp drivers. Other major point overlooked, the driver shortage. Training new drivers is a literal puppy mill for many major carriers. Putting inexperienced drivers out training even lesser experienced drivers.
"Truckers are so crucial to the running of the modern economy that the world is working to replace them" Same applies or will apply to any "essential" worker. Something to think about.
In an ideal world, all essential things would be done by robots so the humans can focus on art and since and enjoying life and stuff. Too bad it probably won't happen like that.
"ANY"? Wrong.
@@zelphx sooner or later yes
Nahh not everything.
Would have been nice to have yang as president here in the US. We're turning into a backwards dump.
Team trucking is not a win for everyone, it is absolute hell not being able to stop and enjoy youeself outside every day
I had some friends who worked in the freight division of FedEx and they told me that they were working on fully automated trucks to drive loads on highways and only needs drivers to pick up trailers once returning from going over the road by the Ai vehicles. So image driverless trucks on the highways then in city/rural/industrial areas would still have human drivers to handle terminal transfers between city regions and deliveries
I can just imagine how much of a pain in the ass passing these convoys of autonomous trucks on two lane highways will be 🙄.
You can already find out what it’s like when passing military convoys
You think by the time that happens you’re going to be allowed to drive your own car if they complete the tech for trucks odds are cars would already have it as well.
@@battleboat12 time for the means of production to be publicly owned comrade
The trucks will have gaps every other truck to allow other vehicles to move between them. If you drive aggressively and cut off an autonomous truck, its cameras and radar will transmit the event, including your licence plate image, to the police and you'll get a ticket in the mail.
Autonomous trucks sounds like trains to me