Autonomous
Autonomous technologies now drive significant change in trucking and freight transportation. Transport Topics autonomous coverage provides a comprehensive look at that change. It provides the latest details on deployment concepts such as advanced driver-assist systems, transfer hubs, teleoperations, platooning and off-road automation and latest analysis of the companies who are manufacturing, adopting and investing in these technologies. Readers can follow the impact such deployment has on everything from policy and infrastructure initiatives to highway congestion, fuel consumption, fleet management, driver management and business investment.
Autonomous, New Technology Merit NTSB’s Attention, Nominee Tells Senate Panel
The National Transportation Safety Board needs to ensure technical skills are available and staff expertise is maintained to address concerns related to autonomous vehicles and new technology, nominee Thomas Chapman told a Senate panel Dec. 11.
California Considers Requiring Zero-Emission Truck Sales
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The country’s most populous state could become the first to require a portion of new truck sales be electric or “zero emission” vehicles as California grapples with how to clean up its worst-in-the nation air quality.
Ford Adding to Austin Self-Driving Car Operation
Ford Motor Co. is adding to its self-driving car testing operation in Austin, Texas, saying Dec. 11 it has secured two pieces of real estate that will be central to the project.
As Deliveries Grow in NYC, So Do Tensions With Tech
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio dislikes autonomous delivery robots and he is not shy about saying so, even as the city’s planners and trucking officials work together on ways to deliver much more freight to the nation’s largest city.
San Francisco Wants to Require Permits for Transportation Tech Testing
SAN FRANCISCO — Tired of San Francisco streets being used as a testing ground for the latest delivery technology and transportation apps, city leaders are now requiring businesses to get permits before trying out new high-tech ideas in public.
Tesla on Autopilot Rear-Ends a Parked Cop Car in Connecticut
Another Tesla Inc. vehicle operating on the carmaker’s driver-assistance system branded as Autopilot has crashed into a parked emergency vehicle, eliciting fresh warnings about the shortcomings of automated technology on public roads.
Spread the News: Self-Driving Truck Makes Cross-Country Butter Delivery
A Silicon Valley startup has completed what appears to be the first commercial freight cross-country trip by an autonomous truck, which finished a 2,800-mile-run from Tulare, Calif., to Quakertown, Pa., for Land O’Lakes in less than three days. The trip was smooth like butter, 40,000 pounds of it.
Volvo Group Venture Capital Invests in Apex.AI, Autotech Ventures
Volvo Group Venture Capital AB announced it invested in Apex.AI, a startup software company involved in autonomous mobility, to help fund the development of a safety-certified software framework for autonomous systems.
Self-Driving Trucks and Presidential Politics
The introduction of self-driving truck prototypes over the past five years has fueled an ongoing conversation about how this emerging technology will change the freight transportation industry in the decades ahead.
Driver Training, Monitoring Could Help Ensure Safe Testing, Deployment of Automated Trucks
Self-driving truck developers are putting a growing number of test vehicles on the road to refine their automated driving systems and pave the way for the commercial introduction of this technology.