Many in the connectivity business are familiar with the concept of the “middle mile,” the distribution network connecting core wide area transport with the actual access network supporting services to end user customers.
As a business issue, the middle mile often is a problem for internet access providers who do not own their own WAN facilities, and must buy distribution services from a third party, often in rural areas where costs are high.
Something of the same issue exists for autonomous trucking, where the immediate application is likely to be the “middle mile long haul” between local transfer hubs. As Deloitte envisions the autonomous trucking market developing, human drivers would handle the “local loop” or “access network” chores at either end of a trip.
Autonomous trucks are likely to be an early application of driverless vehicles, in large part because the business case and financial returns are so clear, say consultants at Deloitte.
The actual autonomous journey would occur only between transfer hubs where loads are transferred to driverless vehicles for movement along highways. That would simplify all the logistical and control issues a full end-to-end driverless vehicle approach would entail.
“Self-driving trucks offer sizable economic and operational benefits for companies across the supply chain; most notable is a projected 30 percent or more per-mile cost reduction as compared to the current human driven truck model,” the consultants say.
“Our model predicts that autonomous truck technology will likely be first commercialized in the Southwest—specifically, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, followed quickly by Oklahoma” for reasons of favorable regulation, weather, and road conditions, the Deloitte researchers say.
Coverage then would begin to extend to northern and eastern locations where the initial conditions are not as favorable.
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