Current Events > Japan plans 310-mile conveyor belt to replace semi-trucks.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.thedrive.com/news/japan-plans-a-310-mile-long-conveyor-belt-to-replace-semi-trucks

If you havent heard, theres been a commercial truck driver shortage for the last few years. In the U.S., the DRIVE SAFE Act suggests opening the profession to 18-year-olds while some states increased load limits. But this is not just a U.S. problem; its an everywhere problem. In Japan, the proposed fix is a 310-mile-long conveyor belt. Because if theres no one to drive the freight to its next destination, why not use a ridiculously long treadmill? Hmm, are we really out of other options?

Referred to as the Autoflow-Road, this network of automated logistics roads would transport goods using both above-ground tracks and tunnels. At ground level, tracks could be placed in a variety of places, most likely medians and alongside shoulders. So, the basic infrastructure is already in place, and the use of tunnels would minimize the impact on above-ground congestion.

The Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is looking to model the AutoFlow-Roads above-ground freight tracks after existing high-capacity conveyor belt systems currently used in the mining industry, particularly a 23-km (14-mile) belt in Kchi prefecture or a 100-km (62-mile) one in Western Sahara.
The ministry says the system will not only address the logistics crisis but also help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We would like to speedily proceed with discussions on the matter. The hope is that each conveyor belt pallet can hold up to one ton of cargo. In a 24-hour cycle, the ministry estimates the Autoflow-Road can deliver the same amount of freight as 25,000 drivers.

Of course, theres no official timeline or budget for this stab in the dark. However, according to The Yomiuri Shimbun, the ministry has suggested a completion date as early as 2034. The regional newspaper also noted that cost would be a significant challenge, with wide-ranging estimates of 7 billion yen to 80 billion yen ($43 million to $497 million at todays currency rates) per 10 km (6 miles). According to a study by the Nomura Research Institute, Japans long-haul workforce is expected to plummet by 36% within the next six years. The impact of the driver shortage will be most severe in rural areas. The Yomiuri Shimbun adds that by 2030, nearly a third of all packages will not be delivered if there arent enough drivers.

wont ppl be able to just steal the packages off of it

The Roads Must Roll

AceMos posted...

wont ppl be able to just steal the packages off of it

In theory maybe, but it's Japan.

AceMos posted...

wont ppl be able to just steal the packages off of it

which certainly doesn't happen at all, otherwise

AceMos posted...

wont ppl be able to just steal the packages off of it

This is why mecha Godzilla will be built to defend it.

AceMos posted...

wont ppl be able to just steal the packages off of it

We're talking about cargo; the boxes in question are
1) heavy
2) not something your average person is gonna be able to easily turn a profit off of.

AceMos posted...

wont ppl be able to just steal the packages off of it

Nobody is stealing freight you need heavy machinery just to get it on and off of trucks. The easiest way to steal freight is to steal the truck it's loaded on.

AceMos posted...

wont ppl be able to just steal the packages off of it

If there was any country where that wouldn't happen, it'd probably be Japan tbf.

AceMos posted...

wont ppl be able to just steal the packages off of it

Unlikely. If they are trying to be even slightly efficient the packages will be moving at an extremely high speed in pretty sizable containers, so it'd be a bit like stealing a cannonball after it has been shot by a cannon: the amount you would spend to do so would absolutely dwarf what you would gain even before the police got involved. You could destroy the belt, but that would more end up with you sitting on a massive pile of junk and even higher fines rather than anything particularly desirable.

Even then it is highly likely that Japan will put in the most bare minimum and thus make it essentially impossible to actually steal anything by sheerly having the belt protected from the weather properly. In a country where typhoons are a thing it is a bit silly to not have any protection at all.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/92750cec.jpg

aw ok was not aware it was about heavy freight i was picturing just packages in general

still tis seems like a insanely expensive solution to the problem and the upkeep will be insane

why not pay drivers better to get more drivers

wont ppl be able to just steal the packages off of it
which certainly doesn't happen at all, otherwise

This feels like a side quest for a future Yakuza game...Kiryu's gone through worst.

Meanwhile in America, we can't even get bullet trains from the East Coast to the West Coast

So it's just a train with extra steps?

AceMos posted...

why not pay drivers better to get more drivers

capitalism

Irony posted...

So it's just a train with extra steps?

seems like it. i think the overall point here is that the train system is integrated into the actual city planning, thus it wouldn't require "new tracks" or "a highway" but it would literally be within the ground and walls of the entire city structure.

like you would expect in some kind of futuristic ... neo ... japan ...

How would it deal with deliveries between the start and end points without delaying every other cargo?

imagine the mission impossible scene!

AceMos posted...

why not pay drivers better to get more drivers

Japan has more jobs than it does applicants. It can't even meet immigration quotas it sets. They can't create more workers here by paying more. For truck driving the safety standards and exam requirements are the biggest hurdle to trying to get immigrants to work as a trick driver. And Japanese have too many options for other jobs (and the applicant shortage applies to most industries, so you have no reason to do truck driving unless you want to do it).

ssjevot posted...

Japan has more jobs than it does applicants. It can't even meet immigration quotas it sets. They can't create more workers here by paying more. For truck driving the safety standards and exam requirements are the biggest hurdle to trying to get immigrants to work as a trick driver. And Japanese have too many options for other jobs (and the applicant shortage applies to most industries, so you have no reason to do truck driving unless you want to do it).

aw thank you

Remember a few years ago when the Yang Gang was proclaiming that truckers were just a few years from obsolescence?

Irony posted...

So it's just a train with extra steps?

There's no trolleys or anything so not really. Seems like less steps if anything.

Intro2Logic posted...

Remember a few years ago when the Yang Gang was proclaiming that truckers were just a few years from obsolescence?

He was right about that as he was a lot of other things regarding automation. Those of us in the automation business see the writing on the wall. Most jobs will stop existing and it won't be because of AI.

Why not just pay truck drivers more? If you tripled truck driver pay, your truck driver shortage is literally solved overnight. Obviously theres a middle ground for pay somewhere

actually maybe its different in Japan, but not globally

PowerOats posted...

Meanwhile in America, we can't even get bullet trains from the East Coast to the West Coast

We can't even get bullet train from SF > SJ despite spending billions on it.

AceMos posted...

wont ppl be able to just steal the packages off of it

Japan has the lowest percentage of theft of any country. The most commonly stolen item there is the umbrella.

LonelyStoner posted...

Japan has the lowest percentage of theft of any country. The most commonly stolen item there is the umbrella.

Don't they literally have free complimentary umbrellas?

Tyranthraxus posted...

Don't they literally have free complimentary umbrellas?

I think they are free in the sense its a trust system of give and take. You arent supposed to take them home with you (forever anyway), more like you take one from one building and walk across the street and put it in another building, and so on

Rika_Furude posted...

I think they are free in the sense its a trust system of give and take. You arent supposed to take them home with you (forever anyway), more like you take one from one building and walk across the street and put it in another building, and so on

Then I guess that statistic is like counting all the people who forget to do that. Like how people steal pens all the time. Like I'm probably technically a bank robber and don't even realize it.

LonelyStoner posted...

Japan has the lowest percentage of theft of any country. The most commonly stolen item there is the umbrella.

And then there is Senegal.

PowerOats posted...

Meanwhile in America, we can't even get bullet trains from the East Coast to the West Coast

America is too poor of a country to invest in such a thing.

Giacomo_Hawkins posted...

The Roads Must Roll

oh my god how I wish

AceMos posted...

aw thank you

I should emphasize how hard even the regular driving test is for immigrants. My wife and her mom are Chinese. My wife took three tries to pass the driver's test. Her mom tried four times before just giving up forever (she uses an electric bike instead). They had no problem getting a license in China. And that's to drive a car. So now you take a foreigner who likely drives on the right side in their home country where they have little traffic rules and a relatively easy to pass test and then give them a massive Japanese language book of rules to memorize and then have them take a very strict driving test with Japanese instructions and yeah.

Alteres posted...

oh my god how I wish

However many advantages it has, Heinlein's story is not exactly utopian. Asimov is generally pretty keen on them however.

Ive read pretty much all of both, and I would be one of the people not allowed on the rockets not to mention the pariah states that come after.

What there is however is change, and not just ever worsening stagnation.

and at least Lazarus had some hope, along with some odd inclinations

Alteres posted...

Ive read pretty much all of both, and I would be one of the people not allowed on the rockets not to mention the pariah states that come after.

What there is however is change, and not just ever worsening stagnation.

and at least Lazarus had some hope, along with some odd inclinations

Yeah, humanity has perhaps not chosen the best of all possible futures.

SomeLikeItHoth posted...

We can't even get bullet train from SF > SJ despite spending billions on it.

Maybe if the automobile industry didn't Judge Doom public transport systems...

Hold on, let them cook

Must be nice to be a country that can build things

Sounds like something Elon would come up with.

TheDurinator posted...

Sounds like something Elon would come up with.

I don't think so. Elon would certainly prefer to sell more cybertrucks.

AceMos posted...

wont ppl be able to just steal the packages off of it

It isn't America. Or the UK for that matter. That said, it's possible. It's not like theft is non-existant here.

Hell, I can leave my laptop and mobile on the table here at starbucks, go to the toilet for 15 minutes and come back. No one touches shit here >_>