All language subtitles for Modern.Marvels.S21E11.Moving.America.1080p.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H264-BTN_track3_[eng]

-[Adam] America is
on the move.

In the most epic way.

The United States has
invested as much as

$1.6 trillion a
year in logistics,

which is kind of a fancy
way of saying transport,

that's trillion,
with a capital T,

but that's not the only number
related to America in motion

that breaks my brain.

Do you realize that 430
million pieces of mail

are delivered every single day?

Public transport makes 10
billion trips every year.

There are free trains
that are three miles long.

There are cargo ships
that are 1300 feet long.

That's like a floating
empire state building,

but these modern,
massive marvels that

breathe life and give
oxygen to our economy,

they're not just brute feasts.

Every year, they continue
to advance, to innovate,

becoming more aerodynamic,
more intelligent,

and they're always
full of surprises.

Today, I'm at the Daimler
truck manufacturing center

in Cleveland, North Carolina.

It's spread over 1.2
million square feet.

We'll get an inside look
at how 1700 workers build

their freightliner trucks that
are essential to our economy

and ship nearly everything
across the country.

Oh, and did I mention,

this is the first
time in history

that Daimler has ever
let anyone inside

their factory to film.

Then we'll see how one company
is making a flying machine

that costs the same as
a high end pickup truck.

Plus, we'll get a
glimpse of what transport

was like in the past

and what it could
be in the future.

How will the latest
technology allow us

to go further, faster
than ever before.

I'm gonna to find out.

So grab your CB and let's
get the truck out of here.

This is Modern Marvels,
Moving America.

[upbeat music]

[plane engine roars]

[alarm blares]

Now if you've ever been
driving down the freeway

and seen a massive
truck towering over you,

there is an awfully good
chance, it was made by Daimler.

In fact, Daimler trucks alone

deliver nearly 3 billion tons
of cargo every single year.

Daimlers footprint
in north America

includes a number
of iconic brands

but the Freightliner
is a créme de la créme,

accounting for one out of every

three truck sales in America.

Now, it all started
in the 1930s,

when Leland James, president
of Consolidated Freightways,

approached manufacturers
about building truck parts

with lightweight aluminum

instead of the
traditional steel.

When his idea was met with
skepticism and resistance,

he hired his own
team of engineers

and he built the truck his way.

The result lighter weight

meant they could haul more
freight with every load

and it was an instant success.

Daimler trucks acquired
the company in 1981

and has since built the brand

to the top choice for trucking.

Today, The Cleveland
North Carolina factory

is Diamler Trucks largest
truck manufacturing facility

in America and inside
1700 workers build trucks.

And these long haulers are
loaded with advanced technology

and are built to last for
a million miles or more.

That's enough to drive
around planet earth 40 times

- Hi Adam, how're you doing?
- Doing well sir.

- Good to see you.

- [Adam] Thank you
for having me.

This place is
amazing and massive,

and I want to know everything

- you got it.

- [Adam] Each truck Diamler
produces is a custom order.

Meaning they come
in different shapes,

sizes and configurations
chosen by the customer.

They can be built to handle
different jobs and be outfitted

with different options inside
like places to sleep and eat,

Some are even better equipped

than a New York city apartment.

- [Erik] So every seven minutes
a truck rolls off the line,

- [Adam] Sorry sorry,
every seven minutes,

- Every seven minutes, a
truck rolls off the line.

- [Adam] You're producing
roughly eight trucks an hour.

- You got it.

- So will you take me through

the making of the
iconic freightliner?

- Absolutely. Let's go.

- [Adam] Each Of
Daimler's trucks

take about 3000 parts to build,

but because each
truck is custom,

there's about 44,000
different possible parts

that could be used.

And this is the station where

the high volume
parts are stored.

It's 26 feet high and
270 feet in length,

longer than a Manhattan city
block running north to south.

- Is there an automated system

that selects it
and brings it back?

- Yeah.

- So this is like an automated

truck building vending machine.

- [Kari] Exactly.

- [Adam] A high volume part

will be needed on nearly
every truck Diamler builds.

So of course they
buy them in bulk,

but in order to
avoid the bulk parts,

clogging up the production line,

they break them down
into smaller boxes

they're called totes.

The totes are then fed into
the automated storage system

where they'll stay until needed,

at which point, the
system accesses the tote

and spits it out to be
delivered to the line

where the parts are needed
when they're needed.

Its starting to
make sense to me,

how you guys were able

to have a new custom
truck roll off the line

every seven minutes,

because now you know
where the things are.

And I know you've got a
lot of trucks to build

and a lot of materials
to get back to,

so but I'll let
you get back to it,

will you take me on
to the next step.

- Absolutely.

- Yes, sir.

- Thank you.

- [Adam] There's
really no better place

to learn about trucks
than here at Daimler

because over 120 years ago,

their namesake,
Gottlieb Daimler,

invented the very
first motorized truck

by taking a horse-drawn
cart and giving it

a four horsepower engine.

Today, the freight
trucking market

is worth over $700 billion.

- [David] You have to
think about railroad tracks

and roads as a circulatory
system of the United States.

And what trucks do is they've
enabled the last mile,

where you can move anything

right to a specific
point on the planet.

- [Adam] However, in the US,

it wasn't until
after world war one,

that trucks grew in demand

after extensive use
by the military.

- Once United state
system expanded

across the United States,

trucks became the
preferred mechanism

for moving a lot of cargo

and certain movies
and songs came along

that popularized the
idea of a road cowboy,

a person who could get
in the cab of a truck

and travel great distances,

and there was some romance
and adventure in that idea.

- [Adam] And that romance
peaked in the 1970s

when trucker culture took off,

leading to chart topping songs
like C.W. McCall's Convoy,

high grossing films like
smokey and the bandit.

And of course, trucker hats,

would stuck around
until the two thousands,

but are making a
comeback as we speak.

Today, 70% of our goods
are transported via truck,

and if long haul truckers
stopped driving,

within 24 hours,
hospitals would start

running out of basic supplies.

And within three days,

most grocery stores would
start running out of food

and ATM's would be out of cash.

But as long as Daimler is here,

we'll be able to count
on their Freightliners.

I'm starting off at the
beginning of the line

in the Chassi department.

The chassis are basically
the spine of the trucks.

This is where critical pieces
such as the axles brakes

and the air compression tanks

for the braking
system are installed.

- So we're find the
chassis in station one.

We install all the
internal cross-members

that gives us
strength to the truck.

- [Adam] It takes a
minimum of 353 workers

to operate this part
of the assembly line.

And because the line itself
is in constant motion,

they are in constant motion too.

The chassis, moves
down the line nonstop

at half a mile an hour.

I've noticed you have the big
old chain coming down here.

- What you to refer to here,
that's called the flipper.

- Oh my...
It's a truck rotisserie

- [Adam] There are close to
16 million trucks

operating on America's
roadways today,

enough to reach the moon.

If you line each of them up

and I'm at Daimler's
largest truck factory,

checking out how the most common

of these long haulers is made.

- All my wha...
It's a truck rotisserie.

- Its pretty amazing
- It's insane

- [Steve] So as you
can see the chassis

is currently built upside down.

We built an inverted.

- [Adam] I didn't even realize.

- That's ergonomically
friendly for the employees.

- I see,

- [Adam] Depending on
what the customer wants,

the chassis can be
made short or long,

potentially up to
40 feet in length.

The number of cross-members
can range from five to eight

and axles have a minimum of
two to a maximum of seven

that can come with
different braking systems

like drum or disc.

The thing that each bolt

represents work done
by a Diamler worker.

That is absolutely insane.

I know you that
have a lot of work.

You are the man, I'm gonna
head on down the line.

[upbeat music]

- [Adam] Whether it's behind
the wheel of a Freightliner

or your family car,

driving is a huge part
of American culture.

The future technology is
coming for our cars as well,

starting with driverless cars,

which actually got
their start on our moon.

- [David] Real
autonomy started in

the space age where
lunar vehicles

were being experimented with.

And there needed
to be some sort of

solution from an
engineering standpoint

to account for the two
and a half second delay

between earth and the moon.

So these lunar rovers
were designed to

move autonomously in
their environment.

- [Adam] And today,
back here on earth,

we're now looking at a future

where we all could be
chauffeured around by our cars

and more autonomous
vehicles means less traffic

because they are
built to communicate

with each other to
eventually eliminate things

like traffic jams and
bottlenecks on our roadways.

- [David] The number
one advantage is safety.

90 plus percent of
all traffic accidents

are related to human error.

And so autonomous
vehicles are going to

eliminate that
for the most part.

- [Adam] While we might have
to wait another 10 years

or more before one
autonomous vehicles

are part of our
day-to-day reality.

When they do arrive, their
impact could be huge.

Researchers have predicted,

they could save hundreds
of thousands of lives

over the course of a decade,

but what innovation could
top driverless cars?

How about flying cars?

[engine roars]

Earlier this year or
real life flying car

was tested in Europe,

that can convert
from an automobile

to a plane in under
three minutes.

So what used to
be science fiction

could become part of our
transportation future,

and that future can't
comes soon enough

because daily commutes
are up since the 80s

from around 22 minutes to
almost a half hour each way.

Which adds up each year,

we lose the equivalent of about

one full-time work
week to our commutes.

But in this nondescript
20,000 square foot facility.

One company is hoping to
change the way we get around

by bringing flying
to the masses.

- Most people give up

on that dream of actually owning

or even flying helicopters
because it's very expensive.

So our goal was in the
beginning to create affordable

helicopter where the average guy

can own your own
helicopter and fly it.

And that's a game changer.

- [Adam] Brand new
traditional helicopters

can range from $300,000
to up into the millions.

Most of us probably
can't afford that,

but these mini
machines cost less

than half that starting
at just 51,000 bucks.

- [Dwight] This business
started as a side business

in the late nineties
and over time,

it's morphed into
something more.

- [Adam] Composite FX
makes their single seaters

out of composite materials,

just like most
helicopters built today,

but where they stand
out on top of the price,

is their weight maxing
out at just 450 pounds.

- A 35 Piece construction
is all cured and together

and now it can pop on the mold.

And it's pretty
easy with two guys.

- [Dwight] It's actually built
to fit in a small trailer,

or it will fit in a
standard two car garage.

So it gives the owner
many, many more options.

I've done things
as crazy as gone,

pick a pizza before with one,

it's a freedom that
if you've not done it,

it's very difficult to explain.

People that ride and enjoy
motorcycles, they use that.

Well, it's the
freedom and the flying

is not any different than that.

- [Adam] Helicopters may
become even more mainstream

if composite FX has their way,

but another familiar form of
flight is looking to graduate

into the world of
human transportation.

- The first drone arguably

could be considered the
Kettering aerial torpedo

that was developed around 1918.

It was a completely autonomous

and it was the most rudimentary
version of a guided missile.

It actually did not see
any time in actual war,

just because by the time
that they were ready,

the war was pretty
much done with.

- [Adam] But today drones are

for much more than
just military.

The commercial drone market,
while young is growing,

with the value
expected to skyrocket

from 4.4 billion in 2018

to over 500 billion, 2028.

- [Edward] There are
currently more than

a million drones
registered with the FAA.

To put it in comparison really,

what we're looking at is
like for every one aircraft,

there are approximately
three or four drones

in existence flying
around today,

and common use for drones

are for agricultural,
to inspection,

to deliveries of
goods and services.

Its application is only
limited to our creativity.

- [Adam] As well as shooting
sweeping aerial shots

for films and TV
shows like this one,

but the future of drones
may lie in transport.

- So on passenger
drones in the world,

I know it's hard to believe,

but that is actually
a thing today.

The Ehang passenger drone

will do approximately
20 miles to the charge

and they'll do that
about 80 miles per hour.

So as a first passenger
drone, it's a wonderful start.

- [Adam] On top of eliminating
traffic from your commute,

passenger drones
are emission free

since they're fully electric.

So they'll help pave the way

towards a greener future that
finally resembles the Jetsons.

Last year, the movement of
goods across the country

was never more extreme

with American consumers
generating over $4 trillion

in total retail sales.

That would be
enough to buy Apple

and still have a
trillion bucks left over.

And to help move all
those purchases around,

truck drivers did their part,

spending as many as 300
days on the road a year,

making the cabs on their
trucks, like the Freightliner,

their home away from home.

Next up, how does Daimler put
together their custom cabs

using 64 robots working
seamlessly in tandem

without ever getting
in each other's way?

Where does the process
begin for the cabs?

- [Tom] So it starts over
here against the far wall.

You've got sidewalls.

So you can see the
robots over there moving.

- [Adam] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[laughing]

- They build sidewalls.

This right here
is your deck sail.

This builds the
floor of the cab.

And then they'll
all meet right here,

which is called the mainframe.

And then the robots will
henrob all of 'em together.

When I mean henrob.

- Yeah.

- This is a self piercing rivet,

and it'll shoot through
and see how it flares out,

holds it together.

- Henrob is a process that
uses a self piercing rivet

that is shot through
two pieces of metal

and then expands to
lock itself into place,

stitching together the entire
cab without using any welding.

These rivets eliminate
the fumes and sparks

of the welding process.

Plus, they have the
same strength as a weld,

but last twice as long.

- How do these machines
handle customization

and yet turn out these cabs?

- Every sidewall,
deck, back wall,

they all have a barcode on it.

And as it goes down
here, it'll tell you,

it'll let you know

that that's the right build
for what that truck is.

- [Adam] For this
part of the assembly,

most of the work
is done by robots,

who, after scanning a part,

immediately know which
custom build it's for

and get to work on it.

Then they come around and
those are the unpainted cabs.

- Those trucks right there
are waiting to go to paint.

Those are the ones
we just built.

- [Adam] Once the
cabs are finished,

they're lifted onto a mezzanine
and shuttled over to paint.

It's here where
Daimler can cover them

in any color you want,

like over 100 different
shades of white.

This is really where I see
the beauty of mechanization.

And if you guys watch it,
it's kind of hypnotic.

These future Freightliners
may be inching closer

to joining the fleet of
trucks crisscrossing America,

carrying our freight,

but there's one piece of cargo
that's in transport daily

that should be pretty
familiar, the mail.

- The US Post was there
from the nation's beginning,

and the US Post played
this really important role

of facilitating the
transportation of information,

connecting the country together.

And it moves in lockstep
with the nation.

- [Adam] The United
States Postal Service

delivers more mail than
any other postal service

in the world with over
161 million addresses

to serve across the country.

But over the course
of its history,

the Postal Service has
occasionally had to get creative

with how they deliver our mail.

Some ways you know,
like the Pony Express,

which served the western
half of the country

running from St.
Joseph, Missouri

to Sacramento, California.

- Their strategy was to use
a series of riders on horses.

It would go as fast as they
can for 12 to 15 miles,

pass the mail off to someone
else with a fresh horse

and go on and go on.

- [Adam] And incredibly, it
reportedly only lost one bag

of mail during its entire run.

But there were other unique
ways in which the mail was moved

such as a system
of pneumatic tubes

just like the ones you
remember using at banks

that shuttled the mail around
the country's biggest cities.

That same technology
was even tested

as a way to transport people
underground in New York

before the advent of the subway.

But still in use today

is the most unique delivery
method ever, mail by mule.

- These distant places, if
there are no roads necessarily,

there might just be a trail
to get to a mining camp.

They would turn to
something like mules.

And today, there is still an
existing mule train in Arizona

that carries the mail six days
a week down the Grand Canyon,

nine miles to your community
living at the bottom

and then back up.

- [Adam] The Grand Canyon
route is a last of its kind,

still being served by an animal.

But while mules may
be perfect for a trek

down to the bottom
of the Grand Canyon,

for our roadways, there's no
competing with iron horses

like the Freightliner.

And after seeing the beginnings
of the cabs come together,

I skipped down the line

to see where the nearly
finished cabs meet their chassis

and finally start
to resemble a truck.

Is that a full cab?

A full cab just floated
down from the damn ceiling.

Like, a full cab.

And there's another
cab up there.

- [Adam] America's trucks
moved almost

12 billion tons of
freight in 2019

and brought in more than
$791 billion in revenue.

More than the GDP of
over 200 countries,

including Switzerland.

Now, I'm about to see one of
the last steps in the process

where the cabs and
the chassis meet.

Is that a full cab?

A full cab just floated
down from the damn ceiling.

Like, a full cab.

And there's a
nother cab up there.

It literally looks
like the scene

when they bring the
Millennium Falcon

in through the space dock.

- It's fully automated
and it's synced.

You can see the next one coming.

They're lined up where
every serial number

matches to the chassis.

So custom cab and
then a custom chassis.

And they basically air
it up and power it up.

So this truck starts having
power shortly after this.

- Now, inside are
the seats, the beds,

the creature comforts.

Everything's already installed?

- Everything's fully installed.

That cab, there's no
other work remaining

to do with that cab.

- [Adam] And these
Freightliner cabs

can be decked out with different
types of seats and floors.

You want hard wood or heated?

You got it.

And if we're talking
overnighter cabs,

these can come with cabinets,
refrigerators, dinette sets,

and beds, including single,
double, and even bunk beds.

It's such a remarkable moment,

all of the technical
wizardry becomes a truck.

But that moment can't happen
without the next component,

the engines, built by
Daimler's Detroit factory,

the Detroit diesel.

Paired here with
their transmissions,

they combine to
make their powerful,

yet extremely
efficient drive train.

This engine right here,

what kind of power is
pushing a Freightliner?

- That's one of our
Detroit DD15 engines.

Everything married together
gives a very powerful product

out there on the market.

- Shout out to the 313.

To be able to tow loads as
heavy as 330,000 pounds,

they pack up to 600 horsepower.

That's enough towing capacity
for a single Freightliner

to pull three Boeing 737s.

What happens between here

and the moment they roll
out of the facility?

- There's a number
of different things

still happening on the line.

You have the battery install,

you have the final
electrical hookup,

you have the hood install.

It gets filled
with fluid, tires,

and then it starts up and
drives off the end of the line.

- [Adam] Wow.

Once these trucks
roll off the line,

they are tantalizingly close

to being finished
Freightliners,

but they'll need
something to drive on.

- We are pretty lucky

when we had driving
cross country today.

In 1919, it was
almost impossible.

Future president
Dwight Eisenhower,

who at the time was Lieutenant
Colonel in the US army

was assigned to
drive cross country

from Washington DC
to San Francisco.

- [Adam] Half of the
journey was over dirt

and sometimes
non-existent roads.

Traveling an average
of six miles per hour,

it took them 62 days
to make the trip

we can do today in about six.

Fast forward to World War
II, and General Eisenhower,

impressed with the early
version of the German autobahn,

realized the importance of a
cross country highway system

for our national defense.

And in 1956, now as president,

he signed the National
Interstate and Highways Act,

which established more than
41,000 miles of super highway.

- They consumed more than one
billion pounds of explosives.

[exploding]

2.3 billion tons of
cement and crushed rock.

- [Adam] The interstate's
original length

is pretty close to
its current size today

of nearly 47,000 miles, enough
to get within 3000 miles

of being able to
circle the earth twice.

At the start of the
day, this Freightliner

was just a collection of
3000 individual parts,

but now I'm actually
riding in it

as Eric steers it towards
one of its final stops

on the way to becoming a
full fledged Freightliner.

- This truck just
came off the line.

This is one of the final
tests that we go through.

So we make sure that
there's no water leaks

anywhere in the truck.

Don't open a window.

- No, I'm hoping the
windows are closed.

I wanna batten all hatches.

America's trucking industry
employs over 8 million people

that work hard to make
sure that our cargo

has an on-time delivery
rating of 95% or more,

but to be able to deliver
our goods so promptly.

Truck drivers and their
rigs have to operate

under some extreme conditions
when they need to make miles,

from notoriously icy
roads in North Dakota,

high winds in Wyoming and
flash flood plains in Texas,

these trucks have
to withstand it all.

And this machine called
the water halo test

is built to put the
weatherization of these trucks

through its paces.

- [Man] We testing the pop and
the sides and all the seams,

the doors and all that.

- So it's like if you're
driving torrential downpour.

- [Man] Exactly, this
is the worst storm

you would ever, ever
wanna drive through.

- Please hold. [laughs]

please hold. The whole
truck is rumbling

its literally shaking the truck.

and these things weigh tones.

So I guess this is a pass.

- [Man] This is a pass. [laughs]

- That was amazing.

- [Adam] This and the rest
of Diamond's latest trucks

that roll off the line today
will join the fleet of trucks

dedicated to moving our
goods across the country.

But before there were trucks

to help transport the
things we buy,

there were trains.

- Trains, totally shaped the
history of the United States

because they allowed
goods to be transported

for the first time across
the entire country.

- [Adam] Starting with steam
engines in the 1800's,

locomotives gradually updated

from steam, to
diesel, to electric.

Currently the fastest
passenger train in America

is Amtrak's acela
which can reach speeds

of 150 miles an hour

And all the way
across the world.

There's a train that's
even faster, the Maglev.

- Maglev trains
don't have wheels.

Instead they have a set of
extremely powerful magnets.

There's one set of
Magnets in the train

and another set of
magnets in the track,

those magnets, repel each other.

And that actually
levitates the train

just a little bit off the track,

and that allows you to reduce
the slowing force of friction

so that the train
can go really fast.

- [Adam] And
we do mean fast.

The fastest Maglev
train in the world,

topped-up at 375 miles per hour.

That's fast enough
to get you from Miami

to New York in under four hours,

but there's potential
and even more futuristic

and faster train in the
works here in the U S.

[upbeat music]

- Well Maglev
eliminates the friction

between a trains
wheels and the track.

The train is still
slowed by friction

with the air around it.

So the idea behind Hyperloop
is to eliminate that air,

pods carrying
passengers would travel

through huge vacuum tunnels

that had most of
their air removed.

And eventually the Hyperloop
pods will be able to travel

at 670 miles per hour.

- [Adam] Originally the
brainchild of Elon Musk,

Virgin has since
taken over development

and plans to launch in 2030.

So by then at the speeds
we're talking about,

you can travel between New
York and DC in 20 minutes,

but even if our freight railways

never reached those kinds
of speeds, many still argue,

they're the best in the world

covering 140,000 route miles

by far the most, anywhere
around the globe.

OutWest no other American
railroad better embodies

the might of our railways
than Union Pacific,

chartered in 1862 when
president Abraham Lincoln

signed the Pacific railway act

with the goal of
connecting the west

with the rest of
the country by rail.

And the transcontinental
railroad was completed in 1869

when union Pacific's
line connected

to central Pacific line in Utah,

creating a boon of trade
and population growth

beyond the Eastern seaboard.

Today across two different shops
among union Pacific's line,

they modernized their
current fleet for the future

while also
simultaneously operating

their iconic Big Boy locomotive.

One of the last that is
still able to ride the rails.

- Big Boy locomotive were
referred to as the 4,000 class,

they were just to right around
610 tons, 133 feet long,

almost 17 feet tall, 11
and a half feet wide.

The modern diesel
locomotive is 74 feet long

and just a little over 200 tons.

- [Adam] There
were 25 big boys

built exclusively for
union Pacific railroad.

The first of which
was delivered in 1941

but only eight remain today.

They were built to be able
to tow long freight lines

with as many as 125 cars

collectively weighing
3,800 tons

all in one shot over the
Wasatch mountain range in Utah.

- At that point, that
was a game changer.

The railroad was faced
with serious congestion.

There was no way for them
to build additional tracks.

They had to find a way to
move that amount of tonnage.

And the only solution was

to make a bigger,
stronger locomotive.

That's what led
to the development

of the Big Boy locomotive.

- [Adam] During
world war II,

the Big Boys were massively
important in moving materials

for the war effort
and are acclaimed

for their wartime contributions.

After the war, the Big
Boys ran until 1961,

making them one of the
last steam locomotives

to go out of service.

And what replaced them?

Diesel engines, and further
down union Pacific's line

is the shop where a
team of 175 people,

do some literal heavy lifting
to keep their active fleet

of more than 4,600
locomotives operational,

while adding a touch of
modern innovation as well.

- [Man] The first thing we do

when we bring the
unit into the shop

is remove the components
that need to come out

to be replaced while
it's in the shop.

- The most impressive
piece of equipment we have

is the 250 ton crane, which
can lift the entire locomotive.

- [Adam] Diesel locomotives
can weigh more than 200 tons

that's heavier than
the statue of Liberty.

So this crane has to use
nearly all of its lifting power

and the most important
upgrade these trains get

brings them into
the 21st century.

- PTC stands for
positive train control

and has given us the ability
to know where our trains were

anywhere in the
country at all times.

- [Adam] Positive train
control uses technologies

across the
telecommunication spectrum

to monitor each train's location

speed and distance
for potential hazards

and can pinpoint where
trains are within 11 feet

of their actual
location in real time.

But its biggest
benefit is safety.

Since the technology
can automatically slow

or stop the train to avoid
collisions or derailments.

- [Dana] American needs
us, there's no way

goods get from point A
to point B without us.

And so the, what we build,
what we put back together

gets those goods from point
A to point B without fail.

- [Adam] Planes,
trains and automobiles,

by now we're familiar with
these common modes of transport

each day, roughly
100,000 flights take off

at land around the world.

Amtrak can transport
nearly 90,000 passengers

and automobiles have consumed

as much as 392 million gallons
of fuel, a record in 2018.

But throughout history, all
the way up to present day,

you could still find some unique
ways that people get around

across the globe.

In north America, dog
sleds were once commonplace

as the most effective means,

of crossing snow
covered terrain.

And they proved
their worth in 1925.

When they came through to
deliver critical medicine

to an epidemic stricken
town in Alaska.

- It was in the dead of winter,

so the best thing they could do

is set up a dog sledding relay

that would begin at
700 mile trip to Nome.

And that five day relay
brought medical supplies,

which treated people
that had the outbreak

and saved many lives.

- [Adam] Across the
Pacific from Alaska,

the Jeepney is the most popular
form of transport in Manila,

the largest city
in the Philippines,

if it looks somewhat familiar,

it might be because they got
their start after world war II,

when US troops
left behind Jeeps,

that were recycled as buses.

- The interesting part is,
they have regular routes,

but they don't
have regular stops.

So you actually have to tell
the driver I'm stopping here

and actually to get in
and out of the Jeepney.

They put the benches
side to side.

Since it was sort of a
quick on and quick off,

they had to keep
that aisle clear.

- [Adam] But over in the UK,

something straight out of
James Bond has been shuffling

British citizens between
Portsmith and the isle of Wight

since 1965, the only
commercial passenger hovercraft

in the world.

- The hovercraft is
the best way to travel

over the Solent

because the tide is maybe
half a mile sometimes,

it actually shoots air below
it to create an air cushion.

So the hovercraft is a great
way to move over both land

and water and it's an iconic
way of traveling in England.

- [Adam] But no matter
how humans have gotten

from place to place
through the years.

Today, one of the most trusted
and time tested methods

for moving cargo around
on the road is trucks.

There are around three and
a half million truck drivers

that share the
road with us today.

And I am finally
about to get a taste

of how the Freightliner
makes their journeys

as easy as possible

for those lucky
enough to drive one.

- Gee, just look at
the size of this thing,

you're used to it,

but seeing a bunch of
pieces come together,

it was like a puzzle
six hours ago.

- [Erik] Absolutely.

- And now it's a Freightliner.

- [Adam] In a
matter of hours,

I'm standing in
front of a completed

road ready Freightliner.

These cabs alone can
weigh up to 20,000 pounds,

but fully loaded trailer and all

they can weigh as
much as 80,000 pounds.

- Oh my God, I am really
the king of the road now.

Oh, it's like a house,

it's actually bigger than
most New York apartments,

this is amazing.

- [Adam] Most truck drivers

cover an average of 2,500
miles on the road each week,

which adds up to an average
of 125,000 miles per year.

So it's not hard to see why a
spacious cab comes in handy.

[starts engine]

- Ooh.

- With that, now you're in drive

and you gotta take the
parking brakes off.

- Wait, you want me to drive it?

- [Man] Absolutely,
you're driving.

- [Adam] Man this is awesome.
That's the horn, Yeah?

- That's the horn.

- I have always.

[laughs]

Always wanted to do this.

[upbeat music]

[honks the horn]

Oh, that felt
amazing. Oh my God.

This is just amazing.

[honks the horn]

Yeah, I could feel it
automatically shifting for me.

- So yeah, this is automated
manual transmission shift.

It knows how fast we're going.
What the engine RPMs are.

It's taking the right gear
to be in or what we're doing.

- This truck is smarter
than most people I know.

[laughs]

I don't know what I expected
when I finally got my chance

of living out the dreams
of driving a truck

but I'm glad that it was a
Freightliner for the first time

'cause man, this is awesome.

- Fantastic.

- This morning, this
truck didn't exist

and now it's this incredible
modern marvel of engineering

but there is always a
new horizon up ahead,

and the long road awaits.

So get moving America,
see you next time.

[honks the horn]

[cheerful music]

[truck beeping]
[train bell ringing]