The MHI Solutions Tech Forecast consists of a panel of industry experts who look ahead to upcoming supply chain trends. For his contribution to this year’s Tech Forecast, St. Onge Company’s Bryan Jensen discussed the future of autonomous vehicles.
Jensen acknowledged that public trepidation regarding the concept 53-foot-long unmanned vehicles moving product in a 3,500-cubic-foot trailer on roadways at speeds up to 70 miles an hour continues, and that more regulations are still to come. However, he also believes that such vehicles will never be truly, completely autonomous.
“Consider military drones. They’re not necessarily autonomous, just remote piloted. I foresee a scenario in which a control center manned by humans monitors these trucks, and even drives them remotely,” he said. “It could be handled in shifts possibly, with one operator driving the truck remotely for four hours and passing it off to the next. It’s a variation on the two-driver scenario, where one sleeps while the other drives. This approach might also help overcome some of the regulatory hurdles for this technology.”
Click here to read the MHI Solutions Tech Forecast 2020!
