Keep an eye on the DARPA road race challenge. CMU just won the first – real world traffic conditions race. But Stanford and Virginia Tech did well. It wasn’t like the first race, when CMU managed to go farthest, but no one actually crossed the finish line 3 years ago. This time, many racers were able to follow all of CA road rules, and still cross the finish line.

Having rolling inventory of trucks on the road 24/7. moving massive amounts of goods around, without putting lives at risk, and finally knowing where all your inventory is, will change distribution again.

Right now, truckers are supposed to take breaks during the day. After all, they are human. Unfortunately, not everyone follows the rules, and the pay structure encourages risk taking.

Economics – costs/benefits will determine how/when/what will succeed. From this current vantage point, the electric vehicle looks like the answer. But then again, a lot of this that look like the answer turn out to be wrong.