ATA's Spear on Fox Business News: Autonomous Trucks Can Improve Job Growth in Sector
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American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear appeared on Fox Business News on Aug. 16, and for the third time in less than a week, addressed the topic of autonomous trucks (watch video above).
Spear said the timing of autonomous trucks in the form of connected vehicles appearing on the nation's highways may depend in part upon a pending decision by the Federal Communications Commission regarding dedicating spectrum to connected vehicle technology versus cable.
Spear also said he doesn't see autonomous trucks "as a potential job loss issue... in fact, it could actually improve job growth in our sector." Spear said the technology could result in bringing more drivers and technicians into the industry.
Spear sounded a similar note last week in an editorial for 2025AD.com headlined, "Will Automated Trucks Be a Job Killer? No, They Will Not."
He also spoke to the subject in an address to membership during the National Truck Driving Championships and National Step Van Driving Championships in Indianapolis on Aug. 12, where he said, “Here’s the key: We’re not at the table. We have to be at the table. I am not going to concede in this role a regulatory framework in the next five to 10 years that the auto industry designed and we inherit.”
