Autonomous

If autonomous vehicles are the future of the trucking industry, what is the future of the truck driver? On the surface, it might appear to some casual observers that automation could soon spell the end of the truck driving profession, but that perception quickly falls apart when examining the current limitations of the technology and the stark realities of trucking’s labor needs.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The threat of cyberattacks to the trucking and logistics industries is real, the number of attacks are growing and each attack has the potential to cripple a company, according to a panel of experts June 6 at the Fleet Data Management and Cybersecurity Conference here.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Daimler Trucks is opening an automated truck research and development center here at its North American headquarters to help pave the way for highly automated commercial vehicles.

Britain is stepping up its plans to be a leader in self-driving cars. The government is awarding 25 million pounds ($33 million) this week to as many as six projects that will research and test autonomous vehicles on highways and on trials of remote-control parking.

SoftBank Group Corp.’s Masayoshi Son wants his company to grow for 300 years, and he’s willing to pour billions of dollars into far-out technology to make it happen.

In a small side room at Washington’s Union Station, this year’s Infrastructure Week kicked off with a keynote address from Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. She again pointed to the private sector and state and municipal officials as being the key drivers on infrastructure funding. Before the secretary’s address, Austin, Texas, Mayor Steve Adler had offered the infrastructure intelligentsia in attendance a different message. A look at the week ahead for trucking on Capitol Hill.

An automaker like General Motors Co. brings two advantages to the development of self-driving vehicles: knowledge of how to build a car and the factories to do it. Silicon Valley’s biggest entrants into autonomous vehicles, particularly Alphabet Inc., have legions of coders and piles of cash.

International logistics giant DHL has been active in the United States this spring, laying the foundation for a major marketing and education center and growing a service facility in Florida.

New York City and Los Angeles, worried that a Senate self-driving car bill would make them hand over control of their streets to the federal government, have found a powerful ally: Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

General Motors Co. and the SoftBank Vision Fund are partnering to invest in GM Cruise to bring self-driving vehicles to market by next year, the company said May 31.