Summary Response Draft #4

 According to the article, “Drone truck startup Einride unveils new driverless vehicles for autonomous freight hauling” written by Hawkins (2020), a Swedish truck company, Einride, has produced a new vehicle that aims to deliver goods in bulk. The company has been producing appealing and unique vehicle models since 2016 such as “Cab-less pods” for a German logistics company as well as the “T-log” for transporting large amounts of huge tree logs in 2017. The new “Autonomous Electric Transport (AET)” vehicles have a minimalist, sleek design and are similar to their predecessors of being “cab-less”. The article also states that there are four different versions of AETs with each type designed to “suit different operational domains or conditions”. Hawkins states that AET 1 is designed to operate inside a specific region, while AET 2 travels outside of a predefined area. AET 3 is meant to operate under rural conditions and AET 4 is geared to run on highways. Einride also does regular testing on the vehicles to ensure they can operate smoothly.  Hawkins also shares the software that Einride were using for “completely driverless driving”. The company claims that the new AET would reduce transportation costs by more than half and reduce very high amounts of CO2 emissions on the environment. The company’s vision for freight haulers were to be remote controlled and driverless as well as including “off-roading and heavy-duty cargo” in the future.

Thanks to the advanced autonomous technology as explained by Hawkins, the drone trucks will soon be able to reduce manpower load for transport companies. Einride Drone Truck is efficient because it is environment-friendly while improving efficiency and reducing injuries.

*Firstly, Einride drone is environment-friendly because it curbs and reduces greenhouse emissions. Trucks have always been a significant source of CO2 emissions worldwide. According to WRI (CAIT) (2021), transportation emissions have contributed to 1.76 billion metric tons of CO2 every year. Hence, it is important for the transportation sector to reduce its emissions, which explains why Einride is implementing AET that are more sustainable as they reduce air pollution. Air pollution is a huge factor in hospitalisations for heart diseases and lung cancer which results in deaths of many. According to Akbarian, the Director of Efficient Mobility (2021) daily CO2 emissions have dropped by 17% and global emissions were reduced to curb greenhouse gas effects. Hence, by using these AET vehicles, we could save the environment as it produces less greenhouse emissions compared to other conventional trucks. 

Secondly, Einride Truck Pods are autonomous vehicles as Einride uses self-driving software which improves efficiency and reduces manpower. According to Falck, founder of Einride (2021) the trucks will begin from freight yards then gradually move to public roads and highways. Einride’s self-driving trucks are especially popular in America since Walmart announced that they have started using AET to make short-distance deliveries. Hence, AET has brought benefits for multi-chain businesses as it helped overcome the shortage of truck drivers. AET being driverless also makes automobiles easier for everyone, especially for elderly, disabled and young people who have become prone to accidents. 

Thirdly, AET brings greater efficiency to the trucking market because AET can easily travel during off-peak hours, which will help in reducing traffic congestions. AET allows many companies to move more freight in the same period of time which means that AET would be an efficient way for transportation as it is fast. AET also does not require that the vehicle takes breaks like human truckers do, to avoid safety issues like truck accidents and according to Rosen, Hollywood Injury Law Firm (2021) trucks are involved in thousands of crashes, resulting in many injuries and deaths. According to the National Safety Council (2021), in 2021, over 5000 large trucks were involved in a fatal crash and 118,000 truck drivers got into injury. Hence, AET could improve efficiency for transporting goods as well as reduce the number of injuries. 

However, “autonomous technology” has brought fear to people in the workforce because many drivers are at the risk of being jobless. The prospect of a jobless economy, in which drivers are taken over by artificially intelligent computers, frightens most people, especially because autonomous trucks and other vehicles may be the catalyst for this future. According to Kitroeff (2016) acceleration in automation could replace “1.7 million American truckers” in the next decade.*

In conclusion, driverless vehicles are on their approach to becoming a reality, but Einride wants to take things a step further by developing driverless trucks. Its initiatives have the potential to permanently alter freight carrying on the road which brings many benefits such as reducing the CO2 emissions, manpower required and accidents that may occur with human drivers. 

References

Akbarian, M. (2020, June 5) The future of electric transport: intelligence. Einride. https://www.einride.tech/insights/driving-change-with-intelligent-solutions/

Falck, R. (2021, September 02) Five years down, many more to go. Einride.

https://www.einride.tech/insights/five-years-down-many-more-to-go/

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/

Kay, G. (2021, November 11). Take a look at the cab-less driverless 'Pods' that could one day turn truck driving into a desk job. Business Insider. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/cab-less-driverless-self-driving-trucks-pictures-desk-job-2021-11/

National Safety Council. (2021) Large Trucks - Injury Facts. 

https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/road-users/large-trucks/

R, R. (2021). The Pros and Cons of Self-Driving or Autonomous Trucks. Rosenohrlaw. https://www.rosenohrlaw.com/blog/benefits-and-drawbacks-self-driving-trucks/

*WRI (CAIT). (2021). Global GHG emissions from transportation 1990-2018. Statista.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1084096/ghg-emissions-transportation-sector-globally/