Lex Fridman Podcast

#237 – Steve Viscelli: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream

Nov 3, 2021

03:19:01

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Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Waymo and Teleoperation

04:02

E-Commerce Is Going to Remake Landscapes, Right?

01:51

Is There a Technology Problem in Self-Driving Trucks?

02:42

Introduction

2min

I Love Sunglasses, I Love Obsession, Passion and Obsession

3min

The Lex Friedman Podcast

3min

What's It Like to Be a Trucker?

2min

What Does It Take to Be Great at This?

2min

Interviews With Truck Drivers - What Are Some Lessons Learned?

2min

Interviewing Long-Haul Truck Drivers

2min

Truckers and the Politics of the Day

3min

Truck Drivers - What Do They Listen To?

4min

10.

Trucking - It's Super High Stress

2min

11.

Trucking

2min

12.

Truck Driving

2min

13.

How Much Are You Making as a Truck Driver?

4min

14.

Do Charters Get Paid a Lot for Their Work?

4min

15.

The Minimum Wage for Truck Drivers

2min

16.

Is There Really a Shortage of Truck Drivers?

3min

17.

Truck Drivers - What's My Time Worth?

3min

18.

Trucks Is the Cheapest Way to Move Freight

3min

19.

Was There a Golden Age for Long Term Truckers in America?

4min

20.

The Pros and Cons of Unions in the Trucking Industry

4min

21.

What Are the Best Jobs in Trucking?

2min

22.

What's Less Than Truckload?

2min

23.

The Last Question I Would Ask Drivers About Autonomous Trucks

3min

24.

Truck Driver, What Was the Best Part of Being a Truck Driver?

2min

25.

COVID and Supply Chain

4min

26.

The Supply Chain Is Not Resistant to Changes in Human Behavior

2min

27.

How Do We Change Our Supply Chains?

2min

28.

Automated Truck Drivers - Should We Be Concerned?

4min

29.

Do You Think It's Possible to Predict the Future of the Future?

3min

30.

The DARPA Challenges - What an Incredible Spark

2min

31.

The Biggest Technology Failure Story in Human History

2min

32.

The Biggest Failure in the Space of Technology

3min

33.

Is There Opportunity to Innovate in Trucking?

2min

34.

The Role of Automation in Trucking

5min

35.

E-Commerce Is Going to Remake Landscapes, Right?

2min

36.

How Many Millions of Containers Are Going to Leave LA and Long Beach on Self-Driving Trucks?

3min

37.

Is There a Technology Problem in Self-Driving Trucks?

3min

38.

Is This Really a Good Idea?

5min

39.

Getting Aerodynamic Advantages of a Platoon

2min

40.

How Do NDAs Work?

5min

41.

Teleoperation in Trucking

3min

42.

Waymo and Teleoperation

4min

43.

Waymo Self-Driving Trucks - Is There Other Ideas?

2min

44.

Autonomous Trucks - What's Your Sensation?

6min

45.

Is It Possible to Automate Truck Drivers?

4min

46.

Are Automated Collision Avoidance Systems Good or Bad?

2min

47.

Do You Have a Vision of the Transformative Effects of Autonomous Trucks?

2min

48.

The Landscape of Human Pain and Suffering

5min

49.

The Impacts of Self-Driving Trucks

2min

50.

Plooning Is a Great Idea for Ride-Sharing

3min

51.

Are We Going to Regulate Truck Drivers?

3min

52.

Waymo Trucks - Is That Really a Good Idea?

4min

53.

On Record Conversations With Driverless Companies

3min

54.

I Don't Have All the Answers in Here Right?

2min

55.

Tesla Semi Autopilot - What Are Your Thoughts?

5min

56.

How Can We Make This Cheaper?

6min

57.

Do We Need Heroes?

3min

58.

Innovation Is a Social Problem

2min

59.

Infrastructure in the United States

2min

60.

COVID and the Response of Our Leaders

4min

61.

Is Higher Education Good for the United States?

2min

62.

Is There a Difference Between AI and the Effects of Capitalism?

4min

63.

How to Give a Voice to the Powerless

3min

64.

The Leap of Freedom - You Know What the Hell Is Up With Your Mind?

2min

65.

Ethnographer - You Know I Grew Up in a Blue Collar Environment

2min

66.

You Know You Can't Connect the Dots Looking Forward

3min

67.

The Meaning of Life Is Love

2min

68.

The Spot Gas Interview With Steve the Sally

2min

Steve Viscelli is a former truck driver and now an economic sociologist at University of Pennsylvania studying freight transportation, including autonomous trucks. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
– Shopify: https://shopify.com/lex to get 14-day free trial
– ROKA: https://roka.com/ and use code LEX to get 20% off your first order
– Sunbasket: https://sunbasket.com/lex and use code LEX to get $35 off
– Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off premium
– BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off

EPISODE LINKS:
Steve’s Website: https://www.steveviscelli.com/
Big Rig (book): https://amzn.to/3EbaofP
Will Robotic Trucks Be “Sweatshops on Wheels?” (article): https://bit.ly/3vGGgpO
Johnny Cash – All I Do Is Drive (song): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEHoagHlqrE
Steve’s Penn Gazette Interview: https://bit.ly/3nkRPyV
More Information on Automated Trucking: http://www.driverlessreport.org/

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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(07:36) – Ethnography
(19:49) – Challenges of driving a truck
(38:28) – Trucking industry: State of affairs
(1:11:33) – Future of autonomous trucks
(1:37:49) – Solving the automated truck dilemma
(2:09:44) – Role of society in automated trucking
(2:36:53) – Tesla and revolutionizing the trucking industry
(2:56:33) – Hope and final thoughts