Original article by Steve Banker published by Forbes.com
On Tuesday, it became public that billionaire investor Warren Buffett had invested in the largest truck-stop chain in North America, Pilot Flying J, which has 750 locations across the U.S. and Canada and more than $20 billion in revenue.
Under the terms of the agreement, Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, will acquire a 38.6% equity stake in Pilot Flying J. By 2023, Berkshire will become Pilot Flying J’s majority shareholder by acquiring another 41.4% of the company. While the size of the investment was not revealed, this was clearly a multibillion-dollar investment with more billions to be invested at a later date.
This would not be a good investment if Buffett believed that autonomous trucks were close to becoming a reality. This is because at every stop, truck drivers buy not just fuel, but food and other goods. No truck drivers means no ancillary sales. In fact, in the short term, the electronic logging device mandate will go into effect on December 18th. These devices will help insure drivers obey the hours of service requirements, which reduces the total amount of time drivers spend driving. This means MORE driver stops and MORE ancillary revenues.
Clearly, he does not believe autonomous vehicles will happen any time soon.
We’ve been on the journey toward autonomous vehicles longer than many realize. Yet despite the billions of dollars invested in multiple autonomous vehicle technologies, the road to fully autonomous vehicles operating in an urban environment involves surmounting almost unimaginable technological hurdles. Additionally, legal, infrastructure and economic hurdles still need to be overcome.
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