This video was made possible by ExpressVPN. Start browsing the web securely with three
months free by going to expressvpn.com/wendover. When you think of freight transport, the image
in your head might include massive container ships, or mile-long trains, or enormous cargo
planes, but more than each of those, the transportation method that carries the vast majority of the
world’s freight is trucks. In most places, it’s not even close—by
value, they carry 73% of the US’ domestic freight. It is truly trucks that connect the world,
more than anything else. Trucking fills a lot of roles from just daily
deliveries to urban households all the way to cross-country treks bringing goods from
manufacturer to consumer. It is that form, though—long-haul, over-the-road
trucking—that is most elusive. These trucks are visible on the highways of
any country, but the infrastructure supporting this transportation system hides in plain
sight. When on the road, long-haul truckers live
and work in their trucks. Of course their job is centered around sitting
behind the wheel, but the section behind that is where they live. Drivers are only allowed to drive a certain
number of hours at a time—in the US, it’s 11, in Europe, it’s 9, and in the rest of
the world it’s something similar to those two. Therefore, they need the facilities to live,
rest, and recreate when off the road in the remaining hours of the day. Most trucks have a cab just large enough for
a bed, TV, microwave, and a few other small appliances. They are typically intentionally minimalistic
because there is a trade-off between the size and weight of the cab and how much freight
can be hauled. This truly is a trade-off for the drivers,
mostly, as a big proportion of them in places like the US actually own their truck themselves
and work for companies on a freelance basis. That means they could decide to buy a rig
with a larger, more comfortable cab, but that could make them less capable of hauling heavier
loads, which means less money. Trucks are weight-restricted mostly to keep
the roads in decent condition. The greater the weight, the greater the impact. In the US, this maximum weight varies widely. On most highways it’s 80,000 pounds or 36,000
kilograms, but this varies from state to state all the way up to 164,000 pounds or 75,000
kilograms in Michigan. Considering this variance, states will typically
have weigh stations near their borders on major highways, as well as some spread out
throughout the state. All trucks, except for some that have electric
systems allowing them to bypass, are required to pull off onto massive scales to assure
they’re complying with the rules. Using this opportunity, though, many weigh
stations have become far more technologically advanced to assure safety and compliance. For example, thermal cameras will take an
image of the wheels to assure the breaks are working properly—if they’re too cold,
that could mean the breaks are not engaging, if they’re too hot, that could mean they’re
engaging too much, in comparison to the other breaks. So, the weight issue, though, is why the average
rig looks just like this—a compact cab with just the bare minimum of comforts. The trade-off means that larger, extended
sleepers are only common with, for example, long-haul moving trucks, which, due to the
low weight and density of the carried goods, rarely have an issue with weight limits. So, given that most trucks look like this,
with just the bare bones of comforts, most of the facilities truckers need are located
in the places where they sleep—truck stops. These dot large countries like the US with
remarkable frequency, centered primarily along highways and other common trucking routes. They might look like large gas stations, but
they offer far more. Truck cabs typically don’t have bathrooms
or showers, so they almost always have those. They also don’t have laundry facilities,
so truck stops often have those. Some will also have banks, barbers, chiropractors,
dentists, dog groomers, and more. This is all because, once truckers are on
the road, they’re in the system, and they can’t really leave it until they’re back
at their origin. One can’t just drive into a city and park
to do some shopping in a semi-truck, both practically and, in some cases, legally. While truckers might travel more miles in
a year than anyone else, the world, for them, while on the job, is limited to the roads,
truck-stops, and few other facilities catering to them. That’s why services like dentists at truck
stops are far from novelties. They’re crucial fixtures of a life on the
road. Truck drivers only make money when they’re
moving. Overwhelmingly, they are paid per mile meaning
the time during which they are legally mandated to rest is unpaid. Not only that, but time off actually loses
money. The whole game is an economic puzzle. Trucks need power to run AC, heat, or electronics
while stationary—all of which drivers typically need when they’re stopped. Therefore, often, drivers leave their trucks
idling overnight which burns about 0.8 gallons or 3 liters of diesel per hour. At current prices, a 10-hour overnight stop
would burn about $20 of diesel which, multiplied by hundreds of nights per year per driver,
is a significant cost and an even greater environmental burden. In addition, this idling adds wear and tear
to the engine, and counts against a truck’s warranty. Until recently, there really wasn’t an alternative,
except for sleeping without AC or heat, but under increased pressure to improve its environmental
footprint, the trucking industry has implemented innovations such as auxiliary power units—smaller,
more efficient generators—electric plug-ins at truck stops, or even ducts installed to
the windows when stopped to provide climate control. This economic calculation extends beyond stops. It also deals with optimizing the miles covered
while following the laws. In the US, the rule is that one can drive
up to 11 hours, over an overall period of 14 hours, and then must rest for 10 hours. Assuming an average speed of 60 miles per
hour, that means a truck can essentially travel 660 miles per day. Therefore, a cross-country trip from Los Angeles
to New York would take about four and a half days. The drivers themselves are paid per mile so
all they want to do is maximize their speed during the 11 hours of daily driving time. The consumer, though—whoever’s paying
for the transport of the product in the back—cares about how fast it gets to them overall. Therefore, truckers have devised a system
to move freight faster. The rules just say that drivers have to rest
for ten hours in their cab—it doesn’t say that the trucks have to be stationary. Drivers will therefore team up so that while
one drives, the other sleeps, and vice versa. A team of drivers, which is often made up
of a married couple, can therefore drive 22 hours per day, covering 1,320 miles. That means that they could make the Los Angeles
to New York trip in just two days. Consumers will pay a premium for the speed,
and therefore trucking companies will pay more per mile. In addition, having less stopped time means
that the truck, which costs quite a lot, is being used more efficiently. This team system is all-around a win for everyone,
assuming one can find a pair of people that will tolerate spending their lives cooped
up in a truck cab together. Truckers, almost certainly, are a dying breed,
though. The future of freight transport will undoubtably
center around self-driving trucks and the technology for these is very close to ready
for prime-time. Right now, multiple companies are at the point
where their trucks are traveling autonomously, with drivers behind the wheel to intervene
if needed. These are essentially autopilot systems, similar
to Tesla’s, that aid the driver and reduce fatigue. Soon, though, with more proven technology
and legal authority to do so, this will likely advance to autonomous convoys. In this system, one driver would sit behind
the wheel of a lead truck, which might also drive autonomously, and then a series of autonomous,
human-less trucks would follow behind. This way, there is still a human that can
assist with mechanical issues or unforeseen road conditions, but the freight to driver
ratio increases dramatically. This will, of course, reduce the number of
truckers needed, but then, after this phase, the industry will undoubtably advance to fully
autonomous trucks. At first, this will likely just be on dedicated
routes—for example, a company might deploy these on uncomplicated routes from one warehouse
to another, both being close to a highway. Autonomous driving on highways is relatively
easy since roads conditions are standardized and predictable. Autonomous city driving is much more complicated,
so human drivers might still be needed for the start and end of journeys. What fully autonomous driving could do, though,
is allow a truck to continue moving on the highway while a driver rests in the back,
allowing essentially continuous driving without having to deal with working hour limits. This, along with a convoy system, could increase
the cost efficiency of trucking dramatically, as the human drivers represent a significant
cost. An average trucker’s pay is about 35 cents
per mile, meaning that cutting out that cost entirely would reduce the cost of a Los Angeles
to New York trip, for example, by almost $1,000. It is for this reason why so many companies
are pursuing autonomous trucks. Of course, the other major cost in trucking
is fuel, so companies are also trying to innovate in that space. Concurrent to the deployment of autonomous
trucks is a likely shift into the use of electric trucks. Tesla, for example, is developing its own
semi truck. They claim its energy consumption will be
about two kilowatt hours per mile. The US’ average energy cost is about 10
cents per kilowatt hour, which translates to an energy cost of about 20 cents per mile. Typical internal combustion semi-trucks have
an efficiency of about 6 miles per gallon so, at current diesel prices, that would translate
to a cost of about 40 cents per mile. Halving a trucking company’s energy prices
is certainly an intriguing proposition, which is why many consider the Tesla semi so promising. At those prices, if a truck goes driverless,
meaning no salary costs, the variable cost of a cross-country, Los Angeles to New York
run would be just $550. To be able to haul tens of thousands of pounds
of goods from door to door across the country for just hundreds of dollars would result
in a paradigm shift in the freight world. There are certainly disadvantages, such as
the high battery pack weight that reduces cargo capacity, but it is clear that electric
trucks will play some role in the industry regardless in the near future. This role will likely be concentrated in shorter
routes, rather than long-haul ones, but this is still a significant enough subset of the
industry that electric trucks have the potential for significant disruption. Right now, there is an strange duality where
truckers are so crucial the running of a modern economy that the world is working to replace
them. We can’t live without them right now, so
we’re finding a way to. In the future, though, the job of a trucker
will undoubtably be another victim of an increasingly modernized world. Another aspect of an increasingly modernized
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I think one thing that should have been mentioned early on is routing. I think a lot got left out by not mentioning restrictions of the road that may limit truck traffic. However, those limits may be enough to warrant its own episode.
As a trucker in the UK, I wish I had even the basic comforts of the US trucks. Our bed is directly behind the seats and we have maybe 5-6 cupboards if we’re lucky.
Edut: spelling
Something that I missed when talking about electric trucks: range and charge time.
A regular truck can carry 240 gallons (about 900 liters), and they get 6 miles per gallon (about 2.5 km/L). This gives them a range of about 1400 miles, or 2300 km (just driving, so subtract some for fuel burn during the night for climate control), before needing to refuel. Refueling takes about 20/30 minutes. This is so fast because many highway gas stations, and many truck stops, have a diesel pump, and a diesel pump for trucks, which has a higher flow rate compared to the regular one.
Compared to the Tesla semi truck: this one has a battery capacity range of 300 or 500 miles (480 or 800 km), depending on the model. It is advertised that it will use the Tesla megacharger (which hasn't been rolled out yet). This charger can charge the truck to 80% in 30 minutes, assuming this is linear that means 36 minutes for a full charge. To get the same range, the Tesla needs to stop 2 times more to top up, assuming the 500 mile range model. This means it will take at least an hour extra of stop time.
Of course, it isn't that black and white. Driver rest is also important, but from the video, a single driver can get a range of 660 miles in a day before rest is required, and a couple can drive 1320 miles, but each driver is limited to 11 hours of driving in a whole period of 14 hours. A couple can charge if they break the 2 hours up in 3 blocks. (Assuming the US situation.)
Comparing it like this, they average eachother pretty much out. To be honest I expected the electric truck to be at a disadvantage, and on paper it is. But if we take a closer look with more factors, it's actually really competitive. The only thing that I can think of right now that can disadvantage it is battery degradation in the long run.
RemindMe! 12 hours
Man your quick!!!
The big thing he missed in this video is how self-driving trucks will affect the four wheelers. When it's the companies losing money because of four wheeler nonsense instead of the driver and the trucks are full of high quality cameras you better believe there will be a big crackdown on all the sub-par driving going on.
I'm late to the party here, but there's a great podcast called 'Over The Road' By Long-Haul Paul.
I think there's only 10 episodes in total, but it is a real insight in to the life of truckers