ATA’s Spear: Autonomous trucks hold promise

Excerpt from Transport Topics article:

Autonomous truck technology holds the potential to enhance safety, efficiency and productivity in the trucking industry, but its successful deployment hinges on regulations that help rather than hinder it, said Chris Spear, president of the American Trucking Associations.

While the widespread adoption of highly automated trucks is still many years away, “the debate over the regulatory framework that will govern it is happening now, and trucking must be a part of it,” said Spear, one of several speakers to address the topic during a Jan. 9 panel discussion here at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting.

“It is important that government policies and regulations do not stifle innovation or inhibit the flexibility of carriers to choose automated technologies best suited to their individual needs,” he said.

Automated driving systems also will need to be demonstrably safer than today’s manually driven vehicles, said Anthony Levandowski, co-founder of Otto, which is developing an automated driving aftermarket kit for heavy-duty trucks.

See the full article from Transport Topics online.