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For our next story, we're going inside the cab of a big rig. The U.S. needs more truck drivers, and right now, new technology is promising to help those drivers or to replace them. NPR's Camila Domonoske took a spin behind the wheel of a new big rig to see how cameras and computers can make a driver's job a little easier.
CAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE: Joel Morrow has seen trucks change a lot in the three decades he's been driving. His very first truck - already old when he started driving it. The seat wouldn't even adjust.
JOEL MORROW: And every bump that I would hit, my knees would hit the dash - every one. I ended up getting, like, volleyball knee pads to drive that truck.
DOMONOSKE: Today, he drives a new, bright purple Volvo VNL, and there's no comparison, he says. It's more efficient. It's more comfortable, and with all the safety features...
MORROW: I would say that this truck's easier to drive than most cars nowadays.
DOMONOSKE: And I would say that I think he's right. This fall, Volvo Trucks invited journalists to South Carolina to try out these big rigs for ourselves.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRUCK DOORS CLOSING)
DOMONOSKE: To be clear, this was on a closed test track. I had never driven an 18-wheeler before. Maddie Sullivan, with Volvo, showed me how the truck can detect a vehicle in front of it thanks to cameras and radar.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRUCK ENGINE RUNNING)
MADDIE SULLIVAN: And now you're just going stay straight.
DOMONOSKE: And I don't have to do anything, right?
SULLIVAN: You don't have to do anything.
DOMONOSKE: OK.
On the test track, a car pulled out in front of me and suddenly slowed. The truck automatically braked.
And we're stopping.
(SOUNDBITE OF CB RADIO TONE)
SULLIVAN: Go.
DOMONOSKE: Then, like stop-and-go traffic, the car moved forward. The truck followed with a little lurch, as 72,000 pounds heaved into motion. My foot didn't touch the pedal.
Tech like this has been available in cars for years. The auto market is highly competitive and new features are selling points. It took longer to arrive in big rigs like this, which, despite their six-figure price tags, didn't used to have cutting-edge features.
Oh, I can feel the steering wheel.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: 10-4.
DOMONOSKE: It's trying to keep me in the middle of the lane, right?
(SOUNDBITE OF BEEPING)
DOMONOSKE: Earlier driver-assist technology also annoyed professional drivers with all the beeping and interventions. But that's getting better, although, as you can hear, there is still some beeping.
Oh.
(SOUNDBITE OF BEEPING)
DOMONOSKE: It's 'cause I'm speeding, isn't it?
Drivers don't tended to stick around in jobs in long-haul trucking. According to industry reports, annual turnover in big fleets frequently tops 90%. Big companies call this a trucker shortage. Drivers tend to say it's a sign of low wages and bad schedules, not to mention other frustrations, like a lack of the parking spaces that drivers need to sleep. Adding cameras and software can't solve those issues, but Volvo argues that trucks that are easier to drive and more comfortable could make trucking more appealing and help companies keep drivers longer.
(SOUNDBITE OF COMPARTMENT UNLATCHING)
SULLIVAN: Storage up here.
(SOUNDBITE OF COMPARTMENT CLOSING)
DOMONOSKE: And that's why the living space in this long-haul truck also got an upgrade.
SULLIVAN: In there.
DOMONOSKE: Tucked behind the seats, there's a table and chairs, storage nooks, fridge, TV, fold-down bed. Volvo let me test that, too...
SULLIVAN: Good night.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRUCK DOOR CLOSING)
DOMONOSKE: ...With an overnight stay. With curtains over the windows and a battery running the AC, the truck converts into something like an RV. I watched a little TV...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Well enough...
(SOUNDBITE OF ITEMS SHUFFLING)
DOMONOSKE: ...Made some tea in the microwave.
(SOUNDBITE OF MICROWAVE BEEP)
DOMONOSKE: And I slept great. But here's a plot twist. Does the truck of the future even need creature comforts?
(SOUNDBITE OF MICROWAVE BEEPING)
DOMONOSKE: The week after my test drive, I saw a Volvo big rig a lot like the one I slept in, except there was a big, empty space in back.
Here in the back where the VNL that I saw had a bed and a table (laughter)...
EVANDRO SILVA: There's only a computer.
DOMONOSKE: (Laughter).
SILVA: Yes. You know, so we saved the bed - you know, the space for a computer instead. Yes.
DOMONOSKE: That's Evandro Silva, who's in charge of maintaining the trucks at Volvo Autonomous Solutions, a sister company to Volvo Trucks. It's using cameras and sensors not to help drivers but to replace them. But more on that tomorrow afternoon, when I take a ride in a driverless truck.
Camila Domonoske, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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