The principal conundrum of advanced driver assist systems like collision mitigation, lane-keeping and more was summed up well by Nussbaum Transportation driver Clark Reed as part of the panel featured in this edition of Overdrive Radio: "The more we take the driver away from the driving experience ... [the greater the potential] they're going to become lackadaisical. ..." Put another way, we're talking about, in a word, "complacency" -– the strong temptation to let the equipment take the responsibility for the work of safe operation from the hands of those to whom it truly belongs. 

That’s the operator, of course, and Reed would go on to say much more than that in the talk with longtime independent owner-operator Henry Albert, a former Overdrive Trucker of the Year, in a panel moderated by TCA chairman and D.M. Bowman chief Jim Ward. 

In today’s podcast, that discussion is featured in more depth than we've covered at OverdriveOnline.com as yet: https://www.overdriveonline.com/business/article/15065920/how-to-think-about-advanced-assist-systems-as-an-owneroperator

It's invaluable for real-world perspective on the space where increasingly sophisticated driver-assist technologies meet the realities of the road. 

We ran into both Reed and Albert last week at the Walcott Truckers Jamboree, as it just so happens, where both showed the next-generation Cascadias they pilot in efforts for the Freightliner Team Run Smart program. Both rigs are outfitted with every bell and whistle you can think of. 

Also at the Walcott show was the exact opposite, of course, one example being the 1982 Peterbilt 359 of an owner-operator who's a contemporary example of where the truck owner-operator comes from in American history. W. Tim Miller has been in the business of trucking and farming for 40 years, mostly these days hauling his own product more than anything else, just as owner-operators of old. Miller farms around 300 acres of corn and beans, hauling exclusively with an early 1980s classic rig he told me about in what follows in the podcast.

Catch more views of Miller's rig via this link: https://www.overdriveonline.com/15066572

'Routine, day's end, on the way home': Getting there, even with advanced assist tech

The Overdrive Radio podcast is produced by Overdrive magazine, the Voice of the American Trucker for 60-plus years. Host Todd Dills -- with a supporting cast among Overdrive editors, contributors and others -- presents owner-operator business leading lights, interviews with extraordinary independent truckers and small fleet owners, and plenty in the way of trucking business and regulatory news and views. Access an archive of all episodes of Overdrive Radio going back more than a decade via this link: http://overdriveonline.com/overdrive-radio