Technological advancements and new discoveries are part of what has made this country great for many decades as well as over the past few centuries. What would it be like if early explorers didn’t pave the Oregon Trail or head north and south to find out what was on the other side of a mountain or river? Could our country have stopped at the Mississippi River, would we have had only the original thirteen colonies? It’s hard to say, but the discovery of new areas of the country spurned the advancement of new technologies and discoveries of what we can use to make our lives easier.
As the automotive industry works toward self-driving vehicles and the ability to give us a ride wherever we need to go without a driver we still have a long way to go, but the delivery of goods and materials, which helps keep things running is one area of self-driving that can make a difference in the pollution and congestion on the roads. Recently we’ve learned that a self-driving semi was able to make a delivery of beer along a journey in Colorado, making for the first self-driving delivery of goods in this manner.
Anheuser-Busch claims to have completed this commercial shipment by using a self-driving truck from Otto. Otto has recently been purchased by Uber the beer truck deliver was taken along a route through Colorado for this feat to be accomplished. The journey started in Fort Collins and made its way along I-25 through Denver and finished in Colorado Springs to be a route of more than 120 miles to finish the journey. While this may seem like a fairly simple task, this is one area where self-driving EV vehicles will become a huge benefit to the transportation industry.
In order to maintain compliance on public roads, much like the Uber vehicles that are already deployed in Pittsburgh, a professional driver was on board for the entire trip and monitors the ride from the sleeper are of the cab. This means the driver wasn’t in the seat and ready to take over in case the truck failed in its mission, but as its been reported, the trip was a success and the beer arrived in tact to its destination to give the residents of Colorado Springs their beer that could be enjoyed while also completed the job of being the first commercial self-driven shipment ever completed.
There’s actually nothing more American than this particular trip in this type of vehicle. A large hauler that uses the most advanced technology makes its way across one of the most mountainous states in the nation to deliver libations to the residents of a thirsty town. That almost sounds like a great commercial or even a half-hour sitcom but without a doubt it’s an American thing to do. With this journey under their belts, I imagine Otto and Anheuser-Busch will have many more deliveries made in vehicles that are able to drive themselves to the destination.
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