[ethbro]

You can get a 50 BMG rifle for a few thousand dollars and put a hole right through an engine block.

Unload truck at your leisure.

That's not even getting into ways to make an automated system stop by putting up an emergency / stop sign in the middle of the road.

The risk to stealing is directly proportional to the chance of getting caught, which broadly correlates into something unexpected happening, which is drastically diminished by not having a human driver.

[smileysteve]

> You can get a 50 BMG rifle for a few thousand dollars and put a hole right through an engine block.

So, how does a single, or even a 2 driver truck prevent this TODAY? The only reason I can think is conspiracy felony murder of 1 or 2 people w/ clubs, guns, cell phones has a higher risk than conspiracy felony larceny?

You've concocted a great hollywood heist scene; but if you're Fast and the Furious driving through South America, it's The Rock and the Swat team hanging out in cargo hold you have to worry about; not whether the truck has an autonomous driver or not.

[ethbro]

> So, how does a single, or even a 2 driver truck prevent this TODAY

See my last paragraph.

Defending an unmanned vehicle is the walls vs guards argument: it's far harder to build an impassible, unguarded wall than it is to build a difficult, guarded one.

[smileysteve]

> Defending an unmanned vehicle is the walls vs guards argument: it's far harder to build an impassible, unguarded wall than it is to build a difficult, guarded one.

When it comes to shooting out an engine block, you're already past difficult. If you're blasting the doors, you're already past difficult.

But most of all, a truck driver is not a guard. Very few guards are guards of things that are insured. Driver, staff, and security guards (even banks) instructions typically include "protect yourself, but if something comes between your safety and the load safety, choose your safety".

To keep up with the Fast and the Furious movie relation; the first movie was about the FBI trying to prevent robberies BEFORE truck drivers took action after the FBI had instructed the truck drivers to not be heros.

[ethbro]

>>> So, how does a single, or even a 2 driver truck prevent this TODAY

>> See my last paragraph.

> The risk to stealing is directly proportional to the chance of getting caught, which broadly correlates into something unexpected happening, which is drastically diminished by not having a human driver.

You're missing the forest for the trees. A human witness is a deterrent because our court system says they are.

"Sir / Madame, could you pick the person you believe robbed your vehicle out of this lineup?"

Shooting out the engine of a vehicle traveling at a constant 55-85 mph down a straight interstate is a turkey shoot if you have the proper caliber.

I thought this was HN? The technical and creative requirements for this theft barely rise to "a bored Tuesday at the dorms."

[smileysteve]

We're not debating the technical arguments; we seem to be disagreeing and just how close to anarchy we are.

[jandrese]

This assumes the truck has no way to call for help when something goes wrong, or that people driving on the same road won't call the cops on you. Long haul trucking doesn't usually happen on deserted backroads.

I'm just saying that the worry about theft is probably overblown. It's almost certainly going to be rare enough that a regular insurance policy will be sufficient protection. People can be hired for exceptional cargo, but that's true today too.

[ethbro]

Have you ever driven interstate east of the Rockies and west of the Mississippi?

If not, you'd be surprised how bare it is. Especially if automation kills the truck stops.

We'll see. The means are trivial for any enterprising farmer, and I think the moral calculus drastically changes once you remove risk to a human driver from the equation.