The logic of reversing to pick up seems plausible to me for the reasons stated.

It's funny to me that these two videos show them doing cone placement in rural areas, perhaps they are test runs? As for safety/injury reduction perhaps? But these rigs have to be in the $300k range + maintenance, storage, and dispatch, I would guess. That long 4 cone machine is interesting but it must be like driving a train or an XKE Jag...doesn't go around corners very well and has to have an even higher price tag but may be able to uncouple from the driving rig? However watching the cones being knocked over by it, I noticed them scraping and rocked to the side, eventually to reach a flat to be able to be picked up. On shorter distances between cones this might be an issue that would require stopping and someone getting it righted so the picker could grab the flats, before proceeding.

In high traffic areas like the Golden Gate bridge or the 101 or 405 here in Cal, I could see these doing good work safely. With the help of Peabody I remember way back when traffic was diverted on the bridge during peak hours by 2 guys in the back of a stake bed for cone placement and then later with the pin/post type barriers in a more modern truck. Now I think they have some pick and place machine which IS a lot safer with people texting and talking on C-phones.

Yet just the other day some Person plowed into the back of a Cal Trans dump type truck and killed himself in the process (Cal Trans Guy was OK), somewhere down in the East Bay on a freeway. Mainly Big News, short cycle time because it stopped traffic for hours and hours.