drivers

Months ago, Mallorca began fining drivers in its ZBE. Now he has a problem with German tourists

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Joachin Fischer is one of the many (many) German tourists who like to enjoy the landscapes, weather and coves of Mallorca. For decades he has been visiting the island at least twice a year. If his name has stood out among the thousands of compatriots who spend their summers in the Balearic Islands, it is because a few months ago posed in front of the cameras of the press showing a fine, a sanction of 200 euros sent by the Palma City Council for (and this is the key) having accessed the Low Emissions Zone (ZBE) from the city with your car. fischer claims who drives a Tesla suitable for driving on the BZE, but that is not the only feature of his vehicle. Another (crucial) is that it has a foreign registration, which partly explains the fine. Your case is important because is not the only one German tourist who claims to have suffered a similar sanction in Palma. What has happened? That the activation of the low emissions zone (ZBE) in Palma is having unexpected protagonists: German tourists. The Balearic capital launched zoning a little over a year ago and months later, in julybegan to apply sanctions to drivers who do not respect it. Until then, nothing out of this world. At the end of the day, Palma City Council has only adjusted to what the Climate Change Law for cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. The surprise came after time, in Novemberwhen it was found that the measure was causing friction with tourists who arrive in Palma with their foreign-registered cars, even the zero-emission ones. Why’s that? The news gave it Mallorca Diary last fall: tourists who arrive in the city with their own vehicles risk fines if they enter the streets delimited in the ZBE. And this is basically because they do not have the option of registering their license plates to process the permit. Even in those cases where they drive models that meet the technical requirements. “They are not authorized to enter the ZBE, since the DGT system is not universalized throughout the EU and each country has its own classification method, so the level of emissions of cars with foreign registration cannot be automatically verified,” They explained in November from the municipal Mobility area of ​​Palma. “They may be exempt only if they register in the system and justify their residence, meeting the established requirements.” And what is the problem? That last nuance. In the website that Palma City Council dedicates to the ZBE includes a specific section on “vehicles with foreign registration plates” in which two points are especially highlighted. The first is that “vehicles registered outside of Spain are not classified according to the criteria of the environmental label of the General Directorate of Traffic.” The second, that drivers of vehicles with foreign registration interested in accessing the ZBE must process a “authorization”a permit designed primarily for residents and owners of properties, businesses or parking spaces. The question is… And the tourists? Many of the thousands of Germans who spend their summers in the Balearic Islands rent cars with Spanish license plates with a badge that allows them to circulate without problem through the Palma ZBE, but there are also cases like Fischer’swho prefers to disembark with his own vehicle. What’s wrong with them? In November Fischer counted to the Balearic press that he had received a fine of 200 euros from the City Council for driving his electric Tesla where he shouldn’t have been. “I only entered Jaume III for a moment to pick up my 14-year-old daughter after shopping in El Born,” he lamented the man, who assures that he prefers to use his private car and not a rental one because it “amuses him” and gives “greater flexibility” when planning his trips. “Not being able to register my car, I thought that my green ecological device and the electric car license plate would be enough to avoid the fine, as is the case in low-emission zones in German cities. But that was not the case.” Is he the only one affected? It doesn’t seem like it. On those same dates the newspaper Mallorca Zeitung assured that he was receiving “more and more messages” from readers with fines. The Mallorcan press has also echoed complaints from those affected who speak of “discrimination” against Europeans with foreign cars or point out how complicated it is to register a vehicle on the list of authorized license plates, especially for those who do not speak Mallorcan or Spanish. One of the arguments put forward by critics is a note posted on the DGT page which explains that, although Spain does not issue badges for foreign vehicles, that does not have to be a problem. “If your car has an environmental label in its country of origin (Germany, Austria, Denmark, France) it is considered to have the Spanish equivalent,” he clarifies. There is who also remembers that Palma is not the only city council (neither in Spain nor in Europe) that applies mobility restrictions in the center, and insists: the rules are the same for everyone and “ignorance does not exempt from guilt.” Images | Sergiy Galyonkin (Flickr) and Đorđe Pandurević (Unsplash) In Xataka | Houses are so expensive in the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands that they are expelling even Germans and British people from the market.

In 1986 a man parked on the wrong side of the gas station. That day he solved an embarrassing problem for all drivers

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The history of innovation It’s full of big names and epic breakupsbut also of silent advances born from minimal errors, from everyday mistakes that anyone could have made. Sometimes, a small mistake reveals a problem so common that no one had thought of it or knew how to formulate it, and it is enough to look at it differently to find a solution that ends up benefiting millions of people without it being barely noticed. In this case, one man saved millions of drivers from embarrassment. A universal problem. Maybe his name doesn’t sound familiar to you, but the story of Jim Moylan It is more important than it seems. The story begins with a scene as trivial as it is recognizable: a Ford engineer (Moylan) soaked by the rain, standing at a gas station, realizing that he has parked in the wrong side of the pump. Where anyone would have felt frustration or perhaps some embarrassment, he saw an everyday problem that could be solved elegantly, cheaply and definitively, and in a matter of minutes. wrote a memorandum proposing a small symbol on the instrument panel to indicate which side the tank was on, a simple idea born from personal experience and the conviction that eliminating that doubt would save time, inconvenience and, yes, small humiliations for millions of drivers. The path to a great idea. Moylan was not a media figure or a senior manager, but an engineer with a long and discreet career within the all-powerful Ford Motor Company, a man, yes, professionally obsessed. with instrument panels and with making them as clear and useful as possible. Thus, after sending his original proposal in 1986, the man did not think about it again, but the company did: the symbol he had scribbled on a page quickly went into development, it was approved without much resistance. and ended up integrating in the first models of the late eighties, demonstrating that in large organizations there was still room for a good idea, no matter how small and coming from whoever it was, to cross the hierarchy and become a reality. From Thunderbird to the entire world. Months passed until the first public appearance of the arrow came, an almost imperceptible moment, hidden in the instrument panel of a Ford Thunderbird 1989. It didn’t matter, its power lay precisely in that simplicity. It was so obvious and useful that the competition It didn’t take him long to copy itand in a very short time it went from being an internal Ford solution to becoming a de facto standard in the global automobile industry, and it did so to the point that today it appears in practically any car in the world, including electric ones, where it points to the side of the charging port with the same unbeatable logic. The inventor without a patent (or ego). Unlike other innovators, Moylan He never patented his idea nor did he ask for financial compensation or public recognition, content simply to see how his arrow worked and helped people. For decades, millions of drivers benefited from his invention without even knowing his name, while he silently watched as that little “walk of shame” at gas stations disappeared, getting closer sometimes to strangers to explain the usefulness of the symbol, but without ever mentioning that it had been his doing. Late recognition. I remembered a few weeks ago the wall street journal which was not until many years later, thanks to a chance investigation from a podcast and to the rescue of internal files, when Jim Moylan’s name came to light and he was publicly recognized as the author of one of the most discreet and universal innovations in the automobile. The man died without having sought famebut he left a legacy that lives on every time someone stops at a pump and, with a simple glance at the instrument panel, knows exactly where to stand, reminding us that sometimes true genius lies in solving the obvious in the simplest way possible. Image | Josh In Xataka | An engineer decided one day to put the BMW airplane engine in a car. The result was tremendous In Xataka | When an engineer wanted to cross Africa by car, he invented a wooden one. It would be the beginning of the end

The robotaxis did not need a driver, but Waymo has ended up paying delivery drivers to close ajar doors

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What until not long ago seemed the exclusive province of science fiction is beginning to become visible on the streets: cars capable of moving from one point to another without a driver. And you don’t need to buy one to live the experience. In some cities around the world, it is enough to order a robotaxi from an application and see how the vehicle arrives to pick you up, identifying you in certain models with your initials on an LED screen located on the roof, as our colleague Javier Lacort confirmed in San Francisco almost two years ago. Futuristic scene, present problems. In the midst of this transformation of transportation, which aims to offer more safety and comfort, its weak points are also beginning to emerge. We don’t talk about the jams caused by connectivity failures nor of those cars that, for some reason, They start honking their horn at four in the morning. The issue is even more basic: if a user closes the door incorrectly, the vehicle cannot continue operating. The problem is not driving, it is being able to leave. In the case described by CNBC and TechCrunchare blocked if, at the end of the trip, a passenger leaves a door ajar. Waymo confirmed to both media that this detail prevents the car from resuming travel and completing new routes until someone closes it correctly. This is a basic, almost domestic friction that turns a simple oversight into an operational problem and explains why the company has to resort to human support to return its vehicles to service as soon as possible. Pay delivery people. The company is testing a system in Atlanta that alerts nearby delivery drivers of applications such as DoorDash when one of their vehicles is left with the door open. The proposal is simple: approach, close it and allow the robotaxi to operate again. The media even cites the case of a driver who was offered $11.25 for that specific task. They also detail a similar order divided between $6.25 for travel and another $5 after verifying the closure. It is not an isolated case. The Atlanta pilot is not the only example of this specific dependence on human help. Waymo has also turned to users of honka roadside assistance platform, to resolve similar situations in other American cities. In this case, some collaborators received offers of up to $24 to close the door of a stopped robotaxi. More than a local anecdote, these examples draw a clear operational pattern: when the vehicle is immobilized due to a minor detail, the quickest solution is still to send a person. Automatic doors, on the way. Today Waymo operates with a fleet made up entirely of electric vehicles Jaguar I-PACE adapted for autonomous driving, which still depend on human intervention in situations like this. But the company owned by Google assures that this gap has an expiration date, although without specifying it: it announced that its future robotaxis will have automatic closing. Meanwhile, the present of the autonomous car continues to show that double face: sophistication in driving and human dependence on the simplest details. Images | Xataka In Xataka | When San Francisco suffered a blackout, its streets were plunged into chaos for a reason: dumped self-driving cars

bring 30,000 drivers from Türkiye

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The road transport sector in Spain faces a serious generational change problem which puts the movement of goods at risk. Logistics companies are looking for creative ways to keep everything moving. A recent initiative promises change this trend and import talent from another country with many more professionals available: Türkiye. Spain runs out of drivers. Spain has more than 30,000 jobs for truck drivers that it cannot meet, a demand that represents almost 10% of the sector’s total workforce, made up of some 390,000 professionals. These vacancies complicate the daily operations of companies, which struggle to find enough hands to maintain their supply routes. Far from being a “temporary blip”, the sector is experiencing a progressive aging of its staff, and the majority of current drivers are between 45 and 55 years old. A third of them will retire in the next 10 years and there is no generational replacement to take their place. Only 5% of Spanish truck drivers are under 25 years old, which shows the lack of generational change in this demanding profession. The agreement with Türkiye. In this context, the Andalusian transport association Usintra and the Córdoba Campus Foundation they have reached an agreement collaboration with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of Türkiye with the aim of recruiting drivers in that country who are willing to come to work in Spain. ​In Türkiye there are more than 300,000 truck drivers looking for work, a figure that contrasts with the shortage of drivers that Spain suffers and opens the door to a practical solution. The objective is for the General Directorate of the Turkish Employment Agency to select these professionals in Turkey, and bring the candidates to Spain to fill the vacancies in Spanish logistics companies. Homologation of permits. Drivers recruited in Türkiye will receive additional training at the Córdoba FP Campus in order to approve the necessary permits to transport goods in Spain and they will learn Spanish. During all this training time, the entities involved will offer them accommodation and food. Afterwards, their documents will be legalized so that they can start working in logistics companies in Spain. Search for talent in Spain. In addition to looking outside, the government has launched the Reconduce Planin which 500,000 euros will be allocated for subsidies of up to 3,000 euros per person to finance and encourage courses and exams to obtain the necessary permits to be a truck driver and transport goods. A measure that from the sector is considered insufficient to alleviate the personnel deficit and the serious problem of generational change that the sector is suffering, greatly affected by the low salary and long hours away from home. The Community of Madrid offers free training for the Certificate of Professional Aptitude (CAP) with 6.48 million euros between 2026 and 2027, aimed at those over 21 years of age with a B card, to train about 1,200 applicants. In Xataka | That Japan has 100,000 people over 100 years old explains a problem: they are literally running out of drivers. Image | Unsplash (Gabriel Santos)

They depend on road transport and there is a lack of 3.6 million truck drivers

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Today almost everything you buy, from supermarket food to the latest mobile phone, has traveled by truck before reaching your hands, and in Europe three out of every four tons of goods move by road. 75% of the goods are transported by road and 85% of the transportation of perishable products is done in fleets of trucks that, currently, do not have enough drivers. The International Road Transport Organization (IRU) calculate that in 36 countries that add up to around 70% of the world’s GDP there are 3.6 million truck driver vacancies, which represents around 7% of the total existing positions. With the progressive aging of the templates, the problem it’s not going to get better in the coming years. One million truck drivers by 2026. For Europe, the IRU predicts that in 2026 there will be a shortage of around one million professional truck drivers. Meanwhile the rise of online commerce demand has skyrocketed of road transport and, according to calculations presented by IRU, the volume transported in Europe will grow by approximately 11% until 2030, which aggravates the tension between the supply of drivers and the real needs of the market. The data provided by IRU show that the driver shortage is a structural problem that affects America, Asia and Europe equally and is not limited to a specific crisis in the road transport sector. Sector sources warn that, if decisive action is not taken, the number of vacancies could exceed seven million drivers by 2028, with 4.9 million unfilled positions in China, about 745,000 in Europe and around 200,000 in Turkey. “If concerted and continuous measures are not taken, this demographic time bomb will explode, seriously affecting economic growth and competitiveness around the world,” said Umberto de Pretto, secretary general of the IRU in his report. Spain needs 30,000 drivers. This lack of professional drivers It is already visible in Spain, where it is estimated that there are around 30,000 unfilled truck driver positions and around 4,700 additional vacancies in bus transportation to meet the growing demand. The IRU and national carrier associations warn that, if the trend continues, the combination of more cargo to move and fewer available drivers could translate into uncovered routes, delays in deliveries and strong pressure on transportation costs. An aging sector with little relief. One of the underlying problems is the age of those who are already working behind the wheel of a truck. In Europe, the average age of drivers is around 47 years old, while in Spain the average is over 50 years old. 50% of Spanish truck drivers are over 55 years old. IRU points out that some 3.4 million truck drivers on the continent will retire in the coming years, which means that millions of professionals will leave the sector in a relatively short period, further aggravating the shortage of labor for the transport of goods. Without quarry. At the same time, the freight transport sector does not have a enough generational change. Less than 12% of professional truck drivers are under 25 years of age on a global scale and in Europe that percentage falls to around 5%, with countries such as Spain or Poland where those under 25 years of age barely represent around 3% of the workforce. To attract new drivers, some governments have begun to make moves, although for now in a limited way. In Spain aid has been approved up to 3,000 euros per person to get a truck permit or class C and D bus. Job improvements. Faced with a scenario of labor shortage, professional drivers’ associations they regret the few proposals aimed at improving the working conditions of professionals. According to a study by the transportation sector employment platform TDRJobs, salary increases (24.3%) and improved working conditions (22.1%) are among the main reasons for driver turnover. In Xataka | That Japan has 100,000 people over 100 years old explains a problem: they are literally running out of drivers. Image | Unsplash (Konstantin Kitsenuik)

A study analyzed the power of LED car headlights. The conclusion is what all drivers already know

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I hate traveling at night, almost as much as drive in rain. It had been a while since I went to a national one, but a few days ago I had to do it and what had to happen happened: I was dazzled on more than one occasion. Car headlights have evolved tremendously in a short time and LEDs have prevailed in new vehicles. The problem is that every time there are more signs that we have gone too far with its evolution. And a new report puts a percentage on how dangerous they can be if they are not properly calibrated… or if the car that uses them is an SUV. In short. Whether because you have a new car or because you update the headlights of a car with a few years behind it, they are one of the elements that are most appreciated on the journeys. They see you better, you see better and it is one of the most important points in terms of safety behind the wheel. If the height is correct and they are well calibrated, they are a pleasure, but it can also happen that this is not the case and they dazzle or dazzle you. There, security goes to hell for a few seconds. The British Department for Transport has published the results of a study about glare caused by LED lights. Your conclusion? They represent a road safety problem, altering the habits of drivers in the United Kingdom. We could extrapolate it perfectly. Basically, between October 2024 and early 2025, they combined objective measurements in real conditions with surveys of 1,850 drivers. The results They are devastating: 97% of them affirm that they are frequently distracted, and 96% that glare from headlights is a road safety problem. Analysis. On the one hand, we have those statements from drivers, who were asked about the frequency with which they felt distracted due to glare from the headlights of vehicles traveling in the opposite direction. On the other hand, the objective analysis. To do this, the DfT used luminance cameras and mixed the data using a machine learning algorithm to identify the variables that come into play at high glare levels. They discovered that there was a strong correlation between higher luminance levels and reports of glare in some test vehicles (logical, on the other hand). Also that road factors influence, such as circular upwards or curves to the righttimes when drivers’ eyes are most exposed to the beam of light from the headlights. In the end, these are things that a study does not have to confirm if you have ever driven at night, but what is interesting about the study is the consequences and the “culprits.” Impact. For example, more than half of the respondents have affirmed that this discomfort due to glare has generated anxiety when driving at certain hours, which is why they have reduced night driving or have abandoned it altogether. And more than 20% point out that they would like to take the car less at night because of this, but they have no other option. According to statistics and beyond the indirect impact, they estimate that glare has bound about 290 accidents annually. and the effects They depend on age: a 50-year-old person takes nine seconds to recover from glare, while a 16-year-old takes just one second, which applies another risk factor on the road to older drivers. SUV. Beyond this, they have also found that larger vehicles, such as SUVs, are the most associated with glare in surveys. This is logical: they are taller, their headlights are more aligned with the eyes of drivers traveling in the opposite direction (especially in lower cars) and it seems that all new cars are SUVsso they are the ones with the most up-to-date lights. The problem of retrofit. This term in English refers to the modification of an existing component. In short: updating with new parts and superior technologies, such as changing the brakes for better ones, installing a new infotainment system or change the original halogen headlights for LED ones. You can buy new ‘bulbs’ even on Amazon and many are approved, but there are two problems: those that are not well regulated and those that are installed illegally. The British Administration has identified that illegal conversion is a problem, since changing halogen bulbs for LED means that those housings designed for halogen do not work the same with the new LED headlights, causing dangerous glare. British ITV has intensified its analysis of the sale of these kits, with heavy fines for violators. Not simple solutions. They estimate that around 800,000 vehicles fail their annual inspection due to headlight alignment problems, but although these are UK numbers, this is a global problem (in Spain22% of serious failures have to do with the lights) which implies that, perhaps, we have gone too far with the power of our cars’ headlights. The solution is not clear. The report recommends periodic glare checks and rethinking luminance measurements in modern headlights, but this will have to be studied. In the end, it is something that we all suffer at one time or another although, as they point Our colleagues at MotorPasión, for motorcyclists there is another added problem: reflections on the visor itself. Image | Alexander Jawfox In Xataka | The “made in China” business of the DGT’s V-16 beacons: homologating the same product 24 times and selling it under different brands

The lack of additives at low-cost gas stations does not keep drivers up at night. That’s why Moeve wants to be more Ballenoil

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Moeve has changed its strategy and has done so in a big way. In just 12 months, the company has converted 50 of its service stations traditional to Ballenoil, its low-cost brand. And since this type of gas stations began to become popular, the ‘lack’ of additives It has not been a concern for consumers who, above all, prioritize their pockets. The transformation has been especially intense since this summer, when the oil company decided to accelerate the process of further prioritizing its low-cost brand in strategic points throughout the Peninsula. Transformation. The old one Cepsa bought Ballenoil in November 2023 with a clear objective: to challenge Repsol for the crown, which maintains the largest share of the Spanish market. But it is not only about growing the number of gas stations. And it seems that Moeve has understood that the future involves being present in two worlds: the premium, where it maintains its traditional brand, and the low cost, where the customer seeks to fill the tank at a lower cost. From Moeve confirm to the Vozpópuli medium that “both premium and low cost are important to respond to the expectations of our customers.” The perfect timing. Although fuel prices have fallen since all-time highs which they reached after the Russian invasion of Ukraine (when they exceeded two euros per liter), continue to remain at high levels. The liter of 95 octane gasoline exceeds 1.45 euros on average and diesel is close to 1.40 euros, according to data from CincoDías. Logically, given the rise in fuel prices, many drivers are looking for specifically economical gas stations, and that is where the low-cost ones come in. All in a context in which traditional oil companies focus on attracting customers through their promises of premium fuel and additives. Figures. The integration of Ballenoil has made Moeve exceed 2,000 service stations in the Iberian Peninsula for the first time, reaching 2,040 gas stations, according to 2024 financial data. The figure is expected to increase before the end of the year. The pace of transformation accelerated in June, when 16 stations changed their image in a single month. Just like affirms In the middle, during September and October the conversions continued, prioritizing territories where the company already has a greater presence. Madrid leads this transformation with nine gas stations that become Ballenoil, followed by Barcelona, ​​Navarra, Albacete, Ciudad Real, Granada, Seville and Badajoz. The Ballenoil network has also allowed Moeve to penetrate areas where it did not previously have a presence, especially in Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Andalusia and several regions of Castile. The rise of low cost. Low cost gas stations already represent 20% of all stations in Spain, according to inform the EconomíaDigital medium, with more than 2,400 installations spread throughout the country. As the media explains, the savings for the driver can exceed 0.18 euros per liter compared to traditional brands, a difference that ends up being noticed with each refueling. And the forecasts point high, which could mean a major structural change in the national oil panorama. Ballenoil, Plenergy and Petroprix are leading this transformation, betting on automated systems and simplified infrastructure that allow them to reduce costs. Manuel Sáez, CEO of Ballenoil, declared to CincoDías that the objective is to “exceed 380 operational service stations” in the second half of the year and “reach 500 throughout 2027.” Competence. Ballenoil has reached 350 service stations in Spain, becoming the leader in number of points of sale within the low cost segment. Plenergy follows closely, with 340 gas stations (331 in Spain and 9 in Portugal) and plans to reach 370 this year. However, Plenergy leads in business volume: closed 2024 with 1,385 million liters sold, a growth of 43% compared to the previous year. For its part, Petroprix, with 165 stations in Spain, has opted for a different strategy, prioritizing international expansion in markets such as Portugal, Chile, Panama and Poland. Cover image | engin akyurt In Xataka | Catalonia wants to make variable speed limits a reality. And he is already experimenting to improve the sleep of his neighbors

They are running out of drivers, literally

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Japan has reached a new longevity record when registering 99,763 people 100 years or olderof which 88% are women, consolidating as the more aged society of the world and with the greatest life expectancy, attributed to healthy diets, low rates of obesity and an active culture in old age. However, this figure also has a face B: the birthday collapse and a lack of labor that has become a first -order problem. Or maybe on one occasion. The demographic challenge. Japan, with almost a 30% of its population Above 65, it has become a world laboratory where it is tested if automation can replace the labor that disappears. The country faces a shortage of workers in essential sectors such as Transportation and logisticswhat has placed companies like Amazon at the forefront of a decisive experiment: demonstrate that robotics and artificial intelligence can maintain the rhythm of fast deliveries in an increasingly aged environment. More robots than humans. In the Logistics Center of Chiba, near Tokyo, Amazon has deployed a Arsenal of Technologies that not only multiplies the ability to 40% storage Regarding a conventional warehouse, but it already has more robots than human employees. There, an automatic machine adjusts the paper packaging to the exact size of each product, while a classification system coordinates multiple items to pack them in a single shipment. The objective is that repetitive work disappears and that the process wins in speed and efficiency, with the support of the artificial intelligence model Deepfleetcapable of coordinating the entire robotic fleet and that has already improved a 10% performance. However, and despite technological sophistication, humans remain indispensable: they are responsible for carrying the packages, a critical phase of the distribution chain. The decline of transport. Because, in reality, the most pressing challenge is found in the transport of goods. With a third of drivers about to retire and a forecast of 30% reduction in the workforce by 2030 (which will mean falling to the 480,000 active truck drivers), The Japanese logistics system faces a crisis of historical magnitudes. The problem worsened with the called “Question 2024”a new legislation that limits driving hours and that has further cut the availability of chóferes. Companies like SBS holdings have opted for Immediate solutionssuch as the hiring of hundreds of foreign workers, aware that autonomous driving is still far from offering a large -scale viable alternative. Japanese skepticism. Plus: Despite the image of Japan as “land of robots”, reality in the country’s stores is far from that perception. According to Interact analysis dataoutside the Amazon ecosystem there are barely 0.17 robots per warehouse, compared to 0.68 in the United States and 0.57 in China. The cause It is multiple: a mountainous geography that forces to build small logistics and several floors, an electronic commerce market that only represents the 10% of retail sales (well below 27% in the United Kingdom) and very high installation costs that dissuade many companies. Nippon Express, one of the greats in the sector, has tried Advanced systems As autonomous wheelbarrows, mobile shelves and robotic chairs for operators, but their managers do not yet trust that these investments can be amortized soon. The survival dilemma. The substantive issue transcends profitability calculations. As warns in the Financial Times Akira Unno, from Nippon Express, Japan has entered a stage where there is not enough generational relief: the country today has just one million 18 -year -old young people, compared to two million past decades. The debate, then, is no longer whether a robot can save costs, but if the national logistics can continue working Without a radical transformation. For companies like Amazon, the way It is clear: Expand automation to local distribution centers and bring artificial intelligence to the final client. For others, the question remains more than open: how many years are needed to recover the investment and if, even with patience, there will be enough hands to hold the supply chain in a country where demography seems to play against any economic calculation. Image | Teo Romera In Xataka | Japan believed to have touched back on his birth crisis. Now another question is asked: if there is really a background In Xataka | Japan has a lesson for the world after years of pro-nature policies. A very little encouraging lesson

Amazon is so convinced of the future of augmented reality glasses that he will put one to all his drivers

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Amazon intends to get on to the car of augmented reality glasses With a two -step strategy: a model for consumers and another specifically designed for their distributors. And is that According to sources Near to the company, its intention would be to manufacture 100,000 units of the professional model to launch it in 2026, while the commercial version would arrive between 2026 and early 2027. The fashion device. As the medium points out The InformationAmazon would have decided to enter the market of augmented reality with two differentiated products but with the same base technology. Consumer glasses, with a “Jayhawk” key name, would include microphone, speakers, camera and a full color screen in one eye. For its part, the model for distributors, internally called “Amelia”, will have a more robust design and will be focused on showing instructions on where to deliver the packages directly on the glasses screen. There is competition. The play would place Amazon in direct competition with goal, which next week will present at its Connect conference a new version of its increased reality glasses. Goal already markets The smart Ray-Ban From 329 euros, which include its assistant to AI, audio and camera, but without screen. The new Meta S glasses, with a “Hypernova” code name, would also have a screen in a single eye, according to sources in the sector. Meanwhile, Chinese companies such as Xreal, Rokid and Rayneo already sell glasses to the public, and Google also works for similar prototypes, which We could try during the past Google I/O. Between the lines. Amazon’s decision to first develop a specific model for its workers reveals a strategy that would first go to use its own logistics infrastructure as a test bank before an alleged commercial launch. This would allow you to improve technology in a controlled environment and demonstrate specific use cases. Also, according to The informationAmazon would be using screens technology from the Chinese company Meta-Bounds, which already use brands like Meizu on their AR devices. The technical challenges. Unlike virtual reality glasses, which completely block the vision of the real world, they argue digital information about the user’s physical environment. Amazon would have opted for a screen in a single eye to reduce costs and complexity, although this makes the experience less immersive than double screen models. The consumer version will be more stylized and less voluminous than the professional model but, according to points The medium, both would share base technology. And now what. The success of this great bet will be decided by acceptance among its distributors, the battery life, the accuracy of the instructions and their software and, above all, if Amazon manages to create a user experience superior to that of the competition. The good thing is that the company has the perfect testing field to prove the technology before a massive deployment to the commercial public. Cover image | Eva Rodríguez de Luis In Xataka | One more year, we have new iPhone. And one more year, Apple is far in generative for mobiles

The Japan telepeage system had a 38 -hour blackout. Japanese drivers chose to continue paying equally

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Japan is a Country of contrasts. On the one hand, it is a society in which the Machines of vending With used pantieslabor situations close to slavery wave extreme surveillance. On the other, they are obsessed with cleanliness and they have a strong value system in which the norms are not contemplated to skip. But what happens if you go with your car on a highway, the Toll system It doesn’t work and the barrier is raised? Would you pay? Well, the same thing happened recently and thousands of people opted for what seemed most correct: pay. Short. It was on April 8 when the company’s electronic toll collection system NIPPON EXPRESSWAY CENT. (Nexco Central) He stopped working. This implies that cars with telepeaje could not carry out the payment automatically in those positions in which there is no personnel -something that Do not abound at this time in Japan– And obviously the barrier did not get up. As you can imagine, it was an important problem because They generated great traffic jams. The problem began at night, but was expanding for 38 hours in which 106 tolls were unusable, causing chaos on 17 routes, including those that go to Economic heart of the country, Tokyo. Huh, pay. The company acted by sending personnel to the toll stalls in which charges could be made manually, but between others it was impossible for the infrastructure and that they could not send operators to all the points, they made the decision to raise the barriers in the affected points. It was the first time that the system failed at this scale from the privatization of Nexco Central in 2005. Vehicles could pass freely and was the best decision to Avoid bottling during the peak of the next day. What else did Nexco do? Tell the drivers that they will use a form on their website to pay deferred. Interestingly, the drivers who aimed how much they had to pay based on the sections traveled that day and sent the relevant applications are counted by thousands. The calculations. They were not all, much less. It is estimated that about 960,000 vehicles passed through those tolls during the 38 hours of fault and 3.8% of them They requested Deferred payment. It may seem like a ridiculous figure, but we are talking about some 36,000 drivers who, voluntarily and without any duty, decided to request the option to pay for the “service consumed” that day. Absolution. All this showed that the TV system It is vulnerable because, when a failure occurs on a scale like this occasion, it could not be react and the only solution was to lift the barriers to avoid major evils. The president of the company, in a very Japanese way, apologized Publicly and promised something: reimbursements and a total of 1,200 million yen, about seven million euros, which stopped entering during error time. All those who paid would receive the reimbursement of their money in a cordial gesture from the company to ensure equity with those who decided not to pay, but a thing was also remembered from Nexco: although the system fails, drivers They should pay. And there is the most questionable side in history. The error was due to a Failure in a software update of the teleping system that caused traffic jams and delays at first and, despite being the fault of the company, they wanted users to pay equally. Images | The Japan Faq In Xataka | Japan’s economy depends more and more on a very Japanese phenomenon: fans absolutely delivered to its idols

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