I think I remember that movie. Was it a camaro or something like it? And the driver was with a kid? Good lord.
I used to know. Oregon, Vermont, and New Jersey are like that. You're not legally allowed to handle the pump. I think it has origins in preserving jobs but is made out to be about safety. Like I said, I used to know but I can't remember the details.
I live in the place and it's about the jobs. It's stupid, because the state has to charge less in taxes on fuel to keep those guys employed, but it must be pretty close to neutral financially. If it's neutral, I'll take the gas pumper. I now forget when I'm traveling that I have to pump my own fuel and it pisses me off when I do and have to get off of a call or something.
The govt. will wait until the number of people still driving decline by about 50% before banning the practice. At that point cars will not have the ability to be driven manually. I think this will not take place before 2035, with driverless capability available around 2030.
Refueling trucks would not pose a problem as has been stated. The best way to keep it simple and not require a person is to have an in-ground nozzle which the truck drives over and lazers align the nozzle with filler. Fuel would flow under pressure with a dry break system to avoid spillage. Scanners would pickup the ownership info and bill to a fuel card. Having the fuel tanks within the frame of the truck rather than hanging on the sides of the cab would be much safer, both for fire prevention and spills.
I highly doubt that manual driving will ever be outlawed. However I could see interstate driving being made mandatory auto pilot. You could then run at higher speeds and be far safer.
I could definitely see something like this. It would increase road capacity by a factor of two with virtually no traffic effects.
Do you think shipping prices will go down as a result of lower labor costs? I'm predicting no, prices will go up because of increased equipment costs.
Read the article. Three quarters of shipping costs are labor, and without labor the efficiency can increase further because the most efficient speed of driving these semi's is 45 mph.