Regulatory Framework for Automation Begins to Emerge
This story appears in the June 12 print edition of iTECH, a supplement to Transport Topics.
As truck makers and tech companies continue to develop automated driving systems for commercial trucks, the federal government is taking early steps toward creating a regulatory framework for this technology.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in September issued guidelines for testing and deploying highly automated vehicles. While that guidance does not contain hard and fast rules for developers, it does outline best practices and could set the stage for NHTSA to implement performance standards in the future.
Cammisa“Automated vehicles have the potential to save thousands of lives, driving the single biggest leap in road safety that our country has ever taken,” former Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said at the time.
“This policy is an unprecedented step by the federal government to harness the benefits of transformative technology by providing a framework for how to do it safely.”
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With these guidelines, federal regulators are trying to create an environment that encourages responsible deployment while remaining flexible because automated vehicle technology still is under development, said Michael Cammisa, vice president of safety policy, connectivity and technology at American Trucking Associations.
“We’re in a transitional phase where there’s not enough information for federal regulation yet, but there’s an interest in having it,” he said.
In the meantime, government and industry will need to address regulations that are prohibiting innovation, Cammisa said.
NHTSA, for example, has been looking at granting exemptions to some vehicle standards to allow on-road testing, he said.
States, meanwhile, have been making changes to their following distance laws or allowing exemptions to permit truck platooning tests.
While the NHTSA policy pertains generally to all vehicle types, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has been working on a complementary document that will examine areas that are specific to commercial vehicles, such as driver hours of service, driver qualifications and vehicle inspection and maintenance.
One intriguing notion is the possibility of relaxed HOS requirements for drivers of highly automated trucks.
Industry consultant Richard Bishop said HOS changes could be important for achieving a business benefit from an advanced highway autopilot system, where the driver may be able to rest in the cab while the truck is moving down the road.
“That’s a big question mark for me, and certainly it’s important to watch,” he said.
Fred Andersky, director of customer solutions and government and industry affairs at Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, cautioned that efforts to change HOS could be difficult because companies can’t control what the driver actually does in the cab. That driver might decide to catch up on Netflix, for example, rather than sleep, he said.
Uber Technologies Inc. said it is focused on demonstrating its technology and business model to policymakers.
“We continue to engage with policymakers at both the national and state levels, and are pleased by the notable excitement from many stakeholders to develop a framework for the safe and quick introduction of autonomous commercial vehicles into the freight ecosystem,” said Alden Woodrow, product lead for Uber’s Advanced Technology Group, which includes the company’s self-driving truck program.
“We are keen to continue working with the FMCSA — and broader DOT — on both the hours of service and unmanned vehicles questions,” Woodrow added. “We expect the agency, industry and other stakeholders to flesh out the surrounding issues more in the months ahead once an FMCSA administrator is appointed.”
