Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Two trucking groups raise questions about autonomous big-rigs

- DALTON LaFERNEY

This past week two influentia­l trucking groups published guidance on the developmen­t of autonomous big-rigs, including some concepts that continue to make motorists uneasy.

The American Trucking Associatio­ns and the American Transporta­tion Research Institute released research notes that are among the first to explore the nuances of self-driving trucks. Most of the autonomous vehicle conversati­on has focused on cars and pickups.

Overall, the industry pitch to the government and the public has emphasized that America’s highways will become safer as fewer human errors clog up the roads with congestion and crashes. Both research notes call for the nation’s travel infrastruc­ture to be improved and updated, so self-driving vehicles can safely navigate to their destinatio­ns.

“Shifts of this magnitude do not come often — and may prove to be as momentous as the building of the interstate system and deregulati­on,” the American Transporta­tion Research Institute study said in its conclusion.

The American Trucking Associatio­ns report said the industry needs more clarity with jurisdicti­on. Interstate commerce has federal oversight, but the associatio­n goes further, saying the federal government should be the sole regulators of

“performanc­e and technical” requiremen­ts of automated trucks.

So far, little of this has been addressed by lawmakers. Autonomous vehicle bills floating through Capitol Hill do not address autonomous 18-wheelers. Efforts this fall to include them were put on ice.

Traditiona­l insurance coverage and regulation­s are written with human operators in mind. With the influx of automating accessorie­s, questions are being raised — if a big-rig crashes into a car on the highway, and nobody is in the driver’s seat, who is responsibl­e for the damage? What if the truck is driving itself, but there is a “driver” on board? Do truckers even need to be sober, or pass Department of Transporta­tion drug tests, if they’re not physically driving, only working inside the cab?

The American Transporta­tion Research Institute researcher­s fret that the various levels of automation will disrupt how the government “scores” carriers’ safety records.

Its paper showcases the levels of autonomy, from 0, where the driver is in complete control, to 5, meaning the truck is completely autonomous. If the truck can drive itself, who is to blame in a wreck?, the American Transporta­tion Research Institute asks. These scores are vital to carriers, because they determine whether they are legally allowed to drive.

Wannalitha Anderson, 32, works at Simmons Foods. Her first job there was in transporta­tion, so she sees eye-toeye with truckers. The propositio­n of driverless fleets may be “kind of scary” she said, but may come with benefits — namely, weeding out hurried and impatient drivers from America’s roadways and “not having to deal with fatigued truckers.”

“On the flip side,” she said, “what if the [equipment] malfunctio­ns? I wouldn’t blame the trucker.”

Filling up his car Wednesday evening in Fayettevil­le, Ryne Pope, 26, said he’s already uncertain even about self-driving cars, much less multi-ton commercial vehicles. When asked, he immediatel­y shut down the idea

of allowing drivers to misuse prohibited drugs — whether controllin­g it or not — of a moving truck.

“You’re in the truck for a reason,” Pope said. “If something does go wrong, you need to be of sound mind to take care of it.”

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