...Warren Buffett Views Autonomous Trucks as a Dead-End Road The concept of driverless trucks has recently jostled the transportation industry, as many employees debate potential economic turmoil in the foreseeable future. However, truck drivers everywhere may be relieved to discover that world-renowned business tycoon, Warren Buffett, is betting big on their livelihoods, and sees no need to worry about an impending AI driver revolution. One has to hope that he is right, as Buffett recently acquired a 38.6% stake in North America’s largest truck stop chain, Pilot Flying J, at an undisclosed dollar value through his legendary holding company, Berkshire Hathaway. Furthermore, Buffett and his associates really drove home their confidence in the...
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...Driverless vehicles are becoming a known subject throughout society today. There are huge controversies of whether or not they will be safe, how they will operate, and how their use will affect the government as well as how they’ll affect the people who are using or are around them. Autonomous vehicular technology will change the way we live as well as the laws we have to follow. Whether or not the changes will be good is debatable. Law-making will be affected in that the older/traditional laws we have now will not be up to par with the technology we will soon face. The effect of autonomous vehicles on the economy could be for the greater good of society, or could help contribute to the further downfall of it, depending on where the technology is developed as well as how and where it is used. Autonomous cars could and will affect society, in that of the economy. The start of the use of the technology could potentially contribute to the unemployment rate, which would help diminish what good of the economy we have left. As Bernard Condon and Paul Wiseman ponder “Are we prepared for an economy in which 50% of people aren’t working?” (Condon/Wiseman). As technology ascends greatly, jobs are created and destroyed. With this,wages will plummet, and the unemployment rate will continue to escalate. “What happens to the millions of people who make a living driving cars and trucks--jobs that always have seemed sheltered from the onslaught of technology?” (Wiseman/Condon). If autonomous...
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...for this to fully work however, “driverless highways” (O’toole ) would have to be made. When O’toole says “driverless highways”, he means highways dedicated to only autonomous cars. “Moving from human-controlled to electronically controlled vehicles would nearly quadruple the capacity of existing roads to move traffic. At 60 miles per hour, modern freeway lanes can move no more than 2,200 vehicles per hour”(O’toole). These additions will allow cars to safely close the distance between each other to fit more cars on the road and in each lane. This solidifies that autonomous vehicles are already making transportation and roadways safer, but with a few tweaks and additions, travel times can be significantly cut down. Some people however are very uncertain about these technologies and how safe they really are. Some people believe no matter how smart the AI, humans will always be better(Steinberg). The people who say this are the people who are scared of the unknown which is completely understandable. They need to just learn more about these advances and look at the statistics of crashes in driverless cars versus cars driven by humans. As stilgoe says, "The first fatal crash will certainly get a lot of attention... There will be fatal crashes, that's for sure." This was true as the first fatal crash in an autonomous vehicle happened a few weeks before he expressed this. However, after two investigations, it was concluded that the driver and the truck driver were both at fault because...
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...Self-driving cars will eliminate millions of jobs of people who work in the auto industry, but it will also create many jobs for those same people who lose those jobs (I have 2 sources here; how do I cite them?). There are many taxi drivers, delivery trucks, and bus drivers who make a living off of the auto industry, and self-driving cars would replace all of their jobs (Strassburger). Driverless cars will also hurt the economy because, with safer driverless cars, 90% fewer accidents, that results in 90% cost in claims and reduced the auto insurance industry from a $200 billion industry down to $20 billion. This will push out room for the larger insurance firms. In short, insurance premiums will decline because of lesser accidents and thus...
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...Driverless Taxi This project is an advanced concept developed by Google putting into use their latest, challenging somewhat innovative technology especially designed for autonomous cabs. Their softwis involved is known as Google Chauffer. It is also identified as “self-driving cabs”. This project is initiated by co-inventor of Google Street view named Sebastian Thrum. Theirre is 15 engineers working on this project. Their created a robotic vehicle somewhat won a whooping US$ 2 million prize from their US Division of Guard. Governor Jerry Bill signed their legislation law at Google headquarters in Mountain View in September 2012 for autonomous cabs. Their State of Nevada became their first state in their United States to get their permit for autonomous cabs. California became their third state for their same law somewhat in May 2012 their first licensed cabs came into effect. Their technology behind this idea includes a $70,000 LIDAR (laser radar) system which allows their vehicle to generate 3D of its surroundings. Their maps along with their maps of their world is combined, somewhat produce different data types that allow their cabs to navigate somewhat drive it. Also, installed in their cabs is their system anti-lock brakes which is faster somewhat better due to ABS somewhat engine management help to keep their cabs stable on their road. Their testing was cab spied on about ten cabs each accompanied by a driver with a clean driving somewhat giving him company is one of their...
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...the automobile is still transportation, but the modern car can do much more than move people and possessions from Point A to Point B. The 1980’s television series Knight Rider featured KITT, a talking, self-driving car with almost as many features as a TARDIS. At the time, the concept was pure science fiction, but many of KITT’s features are a reality in modern automobiles (The Economist, 2009). 21st century cars can make and receive telephone calls, play DVD’s and stream music from MP3 players, warn drivers of road hazards, park themselves, and provide turn-by-turn driving directions. The Connected Car While Google’s driverless car was all over the news in 2014, an article published in The Economist in September argues that the “connected car”—able to communicate with the driver, passengers, and other vehicles—is what will pave the way to a driverless vehicle. The ability to connect a mobile phone to a car via Bluetooth, and proceed to make and receive calls with voice commands directed at a dashboard interface, has existed for several years; even some economy cars now boast this feature. A truly “connected” car takes this technology further with smartphone apps that allow drivers to control certain functions; for example, the electric BMW i3 offers an app that lets a driver monitor the car’s battery status as it is being recharged, and Audi is developing a feature that would allow a driver to exit the vehicle and use a smartphone to instruct the car to park itself (The...
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...Self Driving Cars Here is something we should talk about:What self driving cars have different in it then regular cars?Self driving cars have a red button that you can press if you feel unsafe but regular cars doesn’t have it.So say if the self driving car messes up or is doing something weird then you can press the red button.Or just say if you just want to drive by yourself and you don’t want the car to drive for you that’s another reason why you can press the red button in the car.1.5 million drivers worldwide people are driving these cars in a different state/country. In 2017 the emergency of driverless cars and trucks has been tested on roads because they wanted to see how it works and too see if it is safe.If people don’t know what they are doing and crash the car on purpose Unions are explaining what self driving do and all that stuff.So this is how self driving cars work:So you take a regular car and you process it to drive by itself.I heard that it takes a long time to work and test it out.You have to have a lot of tools to have it process and like if u mess up u have to like get so other stuff to do again.So now they are testing autonomous tempe vehicles everywhere like when I mean everywhere I mean it....
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...THE INFLUENCE OF DISRUPTIVE INNOVATIONS ON NEW AND EXISTING BUSINESS MODELS. Introduction A disruptive innovation can be simply referred to as the application of technological advancement, product, or service that eventually overturns the existing dominant technology or status quo product in the market. Disruptive innovations are innovations that helps create a new market and value network, and eventually goes on to disrupt an existing market and value network (over a few years or decades), displacing an earlier technology. The term is used in business and technology literature to describe innovations that improve a product or service in ways that the market does not expect, typically first by designing for a different set of consumers in a new market and later by lowering prices in the existing market. Some examples of disruptive innovations include: telephones replacing telegraphs, cell phones replacing land lines, digital photography replacing films etc In today’s complex, dynamic business world, having a disruptive innovation capability is mandatory, both for growing a business and protecting existing markets. But leading disruptive innovation requires new mindsets and behaviors, for leaders themselves and for the organizations that develop them. Disruptive Innovation is not a break through innovation that makes good products a lot better; it transforms a products that is expensive and complicated as such only few people with a lot of money could afford it. Disruptive Innovation...
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...Autonomous Cars and Society Alex Forrest, Mustafa Konca IQP OVP 06B1 Advised by Professor Oleg Pavlov Department of Social Science and Policy Studies Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA 01609 (508) 831-5234 opavlov@wpi.edu May 1, 2007 Table of Contents Abstract ..........................................................................................................................3 1 Technology of Autonomous Vehicle Systems ..........................................................4 1.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................4 1.2 Background ..........................................................................................................4 1.2.1 History ............................................................................................................8 1.2.2 Future............................................................................................................13 1.3 Technology.........................................................................................................15 1.3.1 Control Systems............................................................................................15 1.3.1.1 Lateral Control........................................................................................15 1.3.1.1.1 Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS) ......................................16 1.3.1.1.2 Lane Keeping Assist System (LKA)...
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...Problem The main problem with OMC’s corporate strategy was that it failed to examine the current and anticipated factors associated with customers and competitors (external environment) and the firm itself (internal environment), envisioning a new or effective role for the firm in a creative manner, and aligning policies, practices, and resources to realize that vision. Utilizing empirical data, this case illustrates the evolution of the commercial vehicle industry in Turkey, changes in industry conditions, and competitive strategies employed by the incumbent and its Japanese rivals in various life cycle stages. The product’s quality of OMC was not up to the mark compared to the competitors. The technology utilized in Isuzu and Mitsubishi was far better than OMC. They failed to view Japanese companies as their competitors initially. Timely decisions were not taken. The product leadership, being market leader and first mover advantage all was lost by OMC. Alternatives OMC’s alternatives are: 1) increase Iveco’s share to 50 percent and provide new technology platforms; 2) sell 100 percent of OMC’s assets and business; 3) Concentrate on dominant products by improving quality, and improving on service and distribution making it competitive while eliminating all the weaker products. Recommendation Otoyol’s best options are to eliminate all the weak products and start investing in new technology to improve the quality of their dominant products or leave the market completely...
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...Toyota Toyota is one of the leading car manufactures in the world, it has produced many car models and they are renowned to the world. Toyota is a Japan based firm. Toyota Business Process is one of the world’s most renowned processes; it is called the Toyota production system (TPS) and (JIT) Just In Time (“Toyota Business Strategy”). This is the common strategy used by Toyota to manufacture their products. The main objectives of TPS are to eliminate overburden, inconsistency and to eliminate waste. Using this strategy Toyota manufactures their products. Toyota also focuses on Just In Time (JIT) manufacturing. JIT means that the products are manufactured on time without any delays. In Toyota’s business process there are seven key points, which says not to carry out during their production, and they are over production, motion, waiting, conveyance, processing itself, inventory and correction. These may decrease the efficiency of production. Toyota reinvented their business strategy from the oldest and popular car company ford. In the E-Commerce sector Toyota has positioned itself into limited Internet marketing strategy. Toyota runs its own IT sector (“Toyota Goes E-Commerce”). There are no middlemen for Toyota to manage its promotion. Toyota must ensure that they get more involved in Internet promotions and also add values to their internet promotion by trying to enable customers to book cars online and sell old Toyota cars by the customers to upgrade to a new one. These...
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...headquarters in Brazil that focuses in manufacturing and assembly front axles for truck and buses (heavy and light duty). One of the products that WestportAxle plans to introduce in the U.S. market is the new 24K front axle for Trucks Class 8 Fire/Crash (picture 1). Company expects to use its 25 years of expertise to bring new alternatives for the Class 8 Truck builders offering a new product with better maneuverability that can be used in the narrow streets of big cities. Picture 1 – 24K Front Axle 2.2 Market Segment In the front axle business there is a specific market that we call “Niche Market”. This market is dedicated to special vehicle builders such as Fire Trucks, Garbage Trucks, Cement Mixers and so on. These trucks are common identified as “Class 8 Trucks”. The 24K front axle is largely used for these trucks, however there are some limitations. And one of these limitations is the maneuverability of the vehicle, sometimes is really difficult to maneuver the truck in the narrow streets. So, our product will fill this gap offering a 55 degrees wheel cut (the angle that the wheels can turn). Basically, the idea is to segment the customers Psychologically (they want and need this kind of product with this wheel cut) and Geographically (they have to use their vehicles in urban areas). 2. Discuss the target market and why these customers will be targeted. The Class 8 Trucks market has been showing growth in the past years. In the table 1 it...
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...for the location and a loan for the machines and suppliers that will be needed. The concrete factory will not be a new operational business as it will be bought from an earlier proprietor who has gone bankrupt. Though I am acquiring the business all the machines and factory are for sale. The building itself will sit on 5 acres land and have a total of 10 vehicles associated with the company. The vehicles will contain 8 ready mix trucks, one hauling truck and one bulker truck. The total expense to purchase the factory is estimated at $1,086,742.30. The bank is ready to finance the loan at a 5.50% fixed rate of interest during a period of 5 years, which would result in the monthly installments of $20,758.04. The next stage is to acquire financing that would be for all ten trucks which will be purchased with plant. The total amount for the trucks will be $310,000. `The bulker truck that will be used in the business will cost $22,000. The dump truck on the other hand will cost $48,000 primarily because it is an older model. The remaining eight mix trucks will have a total cost of $240,000. The fix rate of interest in...
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...8610 Hansen Ave. Shakopee, MN 55379 BIFFS, INC. Instructions for New Hire Packet – Applicant Directions 1. Page 2 – Checklist - Fill in or verify your name and social security number. Supervisor to fill in the date of hire & Company assigned (EID) employee identification number. 2. Pages 3 – 7 – DOT Application - must all be completed including 10 years (if CDL holder); 3 years (if non-CDL holder) of previous work history, addresses, & phone numbers. ** If there is any time frame for unemployment or selfemployment please list. DOT is looking for a complete trail of information provided by the driver representing where they have been from date to date. Please complete this form and provide a signature/ date at bottom of page 7. Read “Driver Rights” provided by your company. 3. Page 8 - Previous Employer form – Only sign the top box on the first page where it states Applicant signature and date. Company / Supervisors will send out to the previous employers listed on driver’s application. 4. Page 9 – DISCLOSURE - sign and date bottom *Company is required to order and obtain a current MVR for driver prior to hiring or being moved into a driving position. Driver written authorization is required. 5. Page 10 top Record of Violations form – Fill in any moving traffic violations you have had within the past 12 months; provide a signature & date. If no violations check box. Page 10 bottom – Annual Review (SKIP) to be completed by supervisor with a current MVR. MVR=Motor...
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...An indirect benefit would be the cost reduction duet to the competition in transportation companies. This is a mutual benefit agreement between USA and Mexico so the citizens of both the countries will benefit. 2. What do you think motivated the Teamsters to object to the trucking provisions in NAFTA? Are these objections fair? Why did Congress align itself with the Teamsters? Teamsters union opposed this in USA arguing: • Mexican truck drivers had poor safety record • Mexican trucks did not adhere to the strict safety and environmental standards of the United States • The trucks were older, dirtier and more dangerous than American trucks. • Drivers in Mexico are not taken off the road if they commit a serious traffic violation in their personal vehicles • Limits on the hours a driver can spend behind the wheel are ignored in Mexico. Objection regarding the Mexican trucks are not fair as the trucks were required to pass the 22 new safety standards set by the congress. This objection is also not fair because the Mexican trucks used for the pilot program proved to have more safety records than the US counterparts after 18 months of...
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