VOA慢速英语2019 美国邮政局测试自驾卡车运输邮件

US Postal¹ Service Tests Self-Driving Trucks to Move Mail

The United States Postal Service, or USPS has begun tests with self-driving trucks to transport mail.

美国邮政局（USPS）开始测试使用自动驾驶卡车来运送邮件。

The Postal Service is partnering with a California based company, called TuSimple, on the project. The tests are being carried out over two weeks.

美国邮政局同加州一家名为TuSimple的公司在这个项目上展开了合作，测试将会为期两周时间。

Two of TuSimple’s self-driving trucks will transport mail between the southwestern cities of Phoenix², Arizona and Dallas, Texas. The trucks will make five round trips between the cities. Each one will cover a distance of about 3,300 kilometers.

TuSimple公司的两辆自动驾驶卡车将会在亚利桑那州凤凰城和德克萨斯州达拉斯这两座西南城市之间运送邮件。这些卡车将会在这些城市之间进行5次往返，每次往返大约将会跨越3300公里的距离。

The testing is aimed at seeing whether the self-driving technology can reduce transportation times and costs and improve road safety. If successful, the Postal Service could deploy³ the trucks permanently⁴ to move mail between major U.S. population centers.

这次测试旨在了解自动驾驶技术是否可以减少运输时间和成本，并改善道路安全。如果测试成功，美国邮政局可能会在重要人口中心城市之间永久性部署这种卡车来运送邮件。

“The work with TuSimple is our first initiative⁵ in autonomous⁶ long-haul transportation,” said Postal Service official Kim Frum. She told the Reuters news agency the project is part of USPS efforts “to operate a future class of vehicles” using the latest technologies.

美国邮政局官员 Kim Frum 表示：“与TuSimple公司的合作是我们在自主长途运输方面采取的第一项举措。”她对路透社表示，该项目是美国邮政局运营未来一类采用最新技术车辆的一部分。

TuSimple said a human “safety driver” will be sitting in the driver’s seat at all times during the trips to intervene⁷ if necessary. An engineer will ride in the passenger seat as an observer and to take notes.

TuSimple表示，出行期间会有一位人类“安全驾驶员”始终坐在驾驶座上，在有必要的情况下进行干预。工程师将会坐在副驾位置观察并记录。

The trucks will travel on major interstate roads that pass through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

这些卡车将会在穿越亚利桑那州、新墨西哥州和德克萨斯州的大型州际公路上行驶。

TuSimple noted⁸ on its website the trucks are equipped with a camera system that sees about 1,000 meters down the road. It said this provides 35 seconds of reaction time, giving the system enough time “to make the safest and most efficient driving decisions.”

TuSimple公司在其网站上指出，这些卡车装备了一套摄像系统，可以看到路上大约1000米的距离，这可以提供35秒的反应时间，让系统有足够时间“来做出做安全、最有效的驾驶决策。”

The California company and the USPS have yet to talk about the cost of the program, but Frum said no tax dollars were used. The Postal Service pays for its operating costs through sales of postage stamps and other products.

这家加州的公司和USPS尚未谈到该项目的成本，但是Frum表示没有用到纳税人的钱。美国邮政局通过销售邮票和其它产品来支付其运营成本。

One of the main goals of the technology is to remove the need for truck drivers.

该技术的主要目标之一是消除对卡车司机的需求。

Chuck Price is TuSimple’s chief product officer. Price told Reuters he thinks the testing project is a good example of the way autonomous trucks will be used in the future. “These long runs are beyond the range of a single human driver, which means today if they do this run they have to figure out how to cover it with multiple drivers in the vehicle,” he said.

Chuck Price是TuSimple公司的首席产品官。Price对路透社表示，他认为该测试项目是未来自动驾驶卡车应用方式的一个很好的例子。他说：“这种长途驾驶超出了单名驾驶员的能力范围，这意味着如果今天他们要跑这一趟，他们必须弄清楚如何凭借车内的多名驾驶员来跑完全程。”

Transportation experts say the United States is currently⁹ facing a shortage¹⁰ of truck drivers. The American Trucking Associations estimates there will be a shortage of as many as 174,500 drivers by the year 2024. The group says this will result from an aging workforce¹¹ and the difficulty getting younger people to work as truck drivers.

运输专家表示，美国目前正面临卡车司机的短缺。美国货运协会估计，到2024年，卡车司机的缺口将会达到17.45万名。该协会表示，这是劳动力老龄化以及难以让年轻人从事卡车司机工作而导致的。

Price said self-driving trucks built to transport goods have some advantages over driverless vehicles. They generally operate on interstates that do not have the complex traffic systems found in cities. This will reduce mapping requirements for the trucks and lower safety risks involving people walking on streets or riding bicycles, Price said.

Price表示，为运输货物而建造的自动驾驶汽车比无人驾驶汽车具有部分优势。它们通常是在州际公路上运行，没有城市里那种复杂的交通系统。Priice表示，这会降低卡车地图绘制的要求，也减少了包括行人和骑自行车的人在内的安全风险。

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

round trip – n. a trip to one or more places and back again

initiative – n. plan or activity that is done to solve a problem or improve a situation

interstate – n. a fast wide road that stretch between states and connects important cities in the United States

efficient – adj. working well and not wasting time or energy

beyond - adv. in addition; adj. - at a greater distance than

multiple – adj. of or including more than one; many

advantage – n. something good about a situation that can help a person succeed

1 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

2 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

3 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

4 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

5 initiative   

n.主动性，首创精神，主动权（的行动），倡议

参考例句：

• He went to see the headmaster on his own initiative.他主动去看望校长。
• His employer had described him as lacking in initiative and drive.雇主说他缺乏进取心和干劲。

6 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

7 intervene   

vi.干涉，干预，干扰，阻挠

参考例句：

• When riot broke out,the police were obliged to intervene.发生暴乱时，警察有责任干预。
• You don't intervene between those two drunks.你不要在那两个酒鬼之间进行调解。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

10 shortage   

n.缺少，缺乏，不足

参考例句：

• The city is suffering a desperate shortage of water.这个城市严重缺水。
• The heart of the problem is a shortage of funds.问题的关键是缺乏经费。

11 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。