> It seems to me that "backhaul" routs are the most likely to benefit from self driving, either with a person on board or not. Use a self driving truck, where you aren't paying a driver by the hour. It doesn't need to overtake, can drive at the most economical speed. It can stick to very well controlled and mapped routes. Restrict them to certain lanes on the road. Place depots at the exit/entry points to the backhaul where the cab is swapped out for one with a driver.

Stage one of that is probably "Convoy Mode" as they call it.

> “Convoy Mode,” which optimizes efficiency while allowing several uncrewed trucks to follow a lead, crewed vehicle.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/16/tesla-semi-has-the-technic...

NOTE: not talking about feasibility one way or the other, just mentioning that they have claimed similar goals in the past.