By: Eric Wang

Driverless trucks are becoming a reality, and soon, highways may be filled with them. Imagine a line of driverless trucks, all orderly in a straight line, while transporting tons of goods with no people needed to drive them.

A partnership between start-up self-driving company Kodiak Robotics and traditional trucking company US Xpress led a self-driving truck to drive for five days and travel over 6300 miles. But there was a catch: several safety drivers had to be there in case anything went wrong, and they had to grab the wheel several times.

While the technology is certainly working, getting these trucks onto the road with no safety drivers is very difficult. Self-driving companies know that this technology is a long way from being 100% able to drive anywhere, so they are aiming towards deploying such trucks on long stretches of highway without any traffic lights.

Alex Rodrigues, CEO of self-driving company Embark says, “Highways are a more structured environment. You know where every car is supposed to be going. They’re in lanes. They’re headed in the same direction.”

While driverless trucks’ relegation to highways might seem like a shortcoming, it is one of their greatest strengths. The biggest problems in conventional trucking are the boring, tedious, and long stretches of highway in the middle of nowhere; robots don’t mind.

Even still, there are still challenges. While these self-driving trucks can handle most occurrences on a highway—such as merging into traffic, changing lanes, slowing for stopped cars, etc.—companies are still preparing them for rare occurrences, such as a sudden pileup and an accident right in front of the vehicle. Due to this, most companies don’t plan on removing their safety drivers until at least 2024.

Beyond overcoming technological challenges, there is also a logistical challenge. Deploying these self-driving trucks will change the truck-driving industry.

When Kodiak’s truck drove in March, it never went into a city. The self-driving truck remained on the highway, and traditional trucks did the final leg of the journey inside cities.

Deploying these self-driving trucks on a large scale would require the creation of multiple “transfer hubs,” where the self-driving trucks deposit their cargo to be picked up by traditional truckers who then deliver it into the city.

This model would make long-drive truckers obsolete and require more drivers for the short haul into the city. Executives, however, believe drivers will be happy to make the switch. Long-drive truckers have a monotonous life far away from home. Switching to this short drive would allow them to be closer to home and work shorter hours.

On the other hand, some researchers from Carnegie Mellon University believe the transition won’t be that smooth. Considering that truckers are paid by the number of miles they drive, shorter trips could drastically cut the number of miles, and therefore, their wages.

Some drivers also love the feeling of driving along the highway. 28-year-old long haul driver Cannon Bryan says, “I wasn’t born in the city. I wasn’t raised in the city. I hate city driving. I enjoy picking up a load in Dallas and driving to Grand Rapids.”