Summary & Reader Response Draft 3

The article “Drone Truck startup Einride unveils new driverless vehicles for autonomous freight hauling”, written by Hawkins (2020), introduces the features and uses of the Autonomous Electric Transport (AET) — a fleet of vehicles aimed to transport cargo autonomously. The AET's design features a polished, white driverless pod with seamless lines while having different components from a typical automobile. It consists of an electric drivetrain, autonomous drive sensors and proprietary telematics hardware that interfaces with the freight mobility platform. These features can be customised based on the consumer’s needs and operational demands. According to Hawkins (2020), the vehicles come in four different versions with similar weight and payload capacity; however, AET 3 and 4 can achieve a higher maximum speed when compared to AET 1 and 2. Additionally, the four variants were designed to operate in different conditions independently. AET 1 was designed to operate inside a set region, whereas AET 2 employs teleoperation to travel outside of the predefined area. Meanwhile, AET 3 was intended to operate under rural conditions, and AET 4 was geared to run on highways. The ground-breaking technology that AETs present have the potential to be a sustainable solution to transport. Autonomous vehicles (AV) can be used to reduce transportation costs and air pollution, though some critics allege that the technology compromises the livelihoods of millions of drivers. 

AVs can reduce transportation costs by altering the cost structure and use of trucking and by extension, cost of consumer goods. According to Chottani et al. (2018), 65% of all consumable items in the United States are transported by trucks. With complete autonomy, operating expenses would drop by approximately 45 percent, thereby saving the country’s trucking sector between $85 billion and $125 billion. One crucial way of cost reduction is the decrease of human involvement pertaining to driving. For a start, labour expenditures needed to pay drivers for night-time and/or long-distance travelling are significantly reduced. Furthermore, AVs that have level 3 autonomy and above are designed to have high control under certain traffic conditions (Robinson, 2019). This gives the drivers sufficient rest time, and to only resume control when necessary. As most road accidents are caused by human errors (Wodecki, 2021), this system reduces this risk. As such, expenditures relating to insurances and accident coverages are also avoided. 

Another benefit of AVs is their ability to use fuel efficiently, which has consequences in reducing air pollution. For example, human operated vehicles would often brake, accelerate, and be driven at different speeds. Notably, when vehicles accelerate from their stationary points, this energy demanding process would emit hazardous air pollutants.  This includes nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases (Igliński & Babiak, 2017). In comparison, autonomous vehicles are programmed to operate at speeds whereby the levels of fuel consumption are the lowest. AVs can also adjust their routes to avoid delays and traffic congestions enabling smooth driving that decreases the need for acceleration and minimises the emissions of such gases (Chen et al., 2017). Additionally, they also do not require petroleum-based fuel, reducing greenhouse gas emissions to almost zero. 

AVs can potentially disrupt the livelihoods of millions of drivers. Coppola (2021) reported that up to 4 million drivers could be replaced by AV, which would significantly impact the lives of many middle-class workers who are without a bachelor’s degree. However, as the development of AVs progresses, it is predicted that this transition will create more jobs instead—such as teleoperators, remote assistance drivers, and tele-assistants (Stayton et al., 2020). When AVs are eventually in mass production, these jobs will become increasingly critical to supplement them. Hence, it might be too early to reach a stance on whether AVs create a net positive or a net loss in terms of employment.

Despite the many benefits of AVs, it has its drawbacks-one of which relates to its inability to make human decisions during pivotal times (Brown, 2021). The Artificial Intelligence (AI) behind AVs is only useful for learning and interpreting the shapes and sizes of objects when images are unclear. However, the technology has yet to develop the ability to solve ethical dilemmas, such as the classic trolley problem. This dilemma places an individual in a scenario where he/she would decide whether to steer an incoming trolley from the main track, saving five other individuals but in the process killing one worker on the other track (D'Olimpio, 2016). While humans can make their decisions based on the significance of the respective individuals, AI is not able to do this. Hence, the development of AVs would need to reach a point whereby these ethical dilemmas will not occur as often as human caused accidents in order for users to be able to fully trust and utilise the technology. 

In conclusion, there is sufficient evidence to prove the benefits of AVs in terms of reducing transportation costs and air pollution. However, the implementation of AVs must be carefully executed, due to the drawbacks mentioned above. Ultimately, the technology has the potential to present the world with a more sustainable way to travel, and perhaps tackling this implementation with a more open-minded approach would help accelerate the development of AVs.

 

References

Brown, D. (2021, August 6). How should autonomous cars make life-or-death decisions? In the best of worlds, they won’t. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/08/06/self-driving-ai-death-decisions/

Chen, Y., Gonder, J., Young, S., & Wood, E. (2017). Quantifying autonomous vehicles national fuel consumption impacts: A data-rich approach. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 122, 134-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2017.10.012

 

Chottani, A., Hastings, G., Murnane, J., & Neuhaus, F. (2018, December 10). Distraction or disruption? Autonomous trucks gain ground in US logistics. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/travel-logistics-and-infrastructure/our-insights/distraction-or-disruption-autonomous-trucks-gain-ground-in-us-logistics

 

Coppola, G. (2021, August 10). Driverless cars are proving to be job creators, at least so far. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-08-10/driverless-cars-are-proving-to-be-job-creators-at-least-so-far

D'Olimpio, L. (2016, June 3). The trolley dilemma: Would you kill one person to save five? The conversation. https://theconversation.com/the-trolley-dilemma-would-you-kill-one-person-to-save-five-57111

Hawkins, A. J. (2020, October 8). Drone truck startup Einride unveils new driverless vehicles for autonomous freight hauling. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/8/21506125/einride-self-driving-truck-pod-aet-reveal

Igliński, H., & Babiak, M. (2017). Analysis of the potential of autonomous vehicles in reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases in toad transport. Procedia Engineering, 192, 353–358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.06.061

 

Stayton, E., Leonard, J., & Mindell, D. (2020, July 22). Autonomous vehicles, mobility, and employment policy: The roads ahead. MIT work of the future. https://workofthefuture.mit.edu/research-post/autonomous-vehicles-mobility-and-employment-policy-the-roads-ahead/

Nikitas, A., Vitel, A.-E., & Cotet, C. (2021). Autonomous vehicles and employment: An urban futures revolution or catastrophe? Cities, 114, 103203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2021.103203

Robinson, A. (2019, December 4). 5 impacts of autonomous freight trucking on supply chains. Supply Chain 24-7. https://www.supplychain247.com/article/5_impacts_of_autonomous_freight_trucking_on_supply_chains/autonomous_vehicles

Wodecki, B. (2021, October 20). Human error causes 99% of autonomous vehicle accidents: Study. IoT World Today. https://www.iotworldtoday.com/2021/10/20/blame-the-humans-idtechex-finds-99-percent-of-autonomous-vehicle-accidents-caused-by-human-error/