Autonomous

About Autonomous News...

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.

Business, Safety, Autonomous, Logistics, Government, Fuel

Kevin Burch: Taking the Story of Trucking to the White House

I love trucks. As I travel the country as chairman of American Trucking Associations, I wear a simple button with a simple message: “I Love Trucks.” I even wear it in my official ATA chairman’s portrait. It’s a button I encourage everyone I meet to wear. It starts conversations about this great industry and gives me a chance to tell our story.

Kevin Burch | Chairman, American Trucking Associations
April 5, 2017
Government, Business, Technology, Equipment, Safety, Autonomous, Editorial

Editorial: How Will Trucks Be Marketed?

Big truck shows are always a good way to learn about what’s going on in the world of trucking equipment and technology. You also get to catch up with friends and acquaintances, compare notes about industry trends and, well, gossip.

April 3, 2017
Business, Safety, Autonomous, Government, Technology, Equipment

TL Turnover Sinks to 71%

Driver turnover for large truckload carriers dropped 31 percentage points to 71% in the fourth quarter of 2016 versus the same period in 2015, the lowest level in six years according to American Trucking Associations.

Ari Ashe | Staff Reporter
April 3, 2017
Government, Business, Safety, Fuel, Logistics, Autonomous

ELDs Hot Topic at MATS as December Mandate Looms

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Truck makers returned to the Mid-America Trucking Show, to varying degrees, and while many things seemed familiar, the specter of new competition also loomed over North America’s largest annual truck show.

Jonathan S. Reiskin | Associate News Editor
April 3, 2017
Business, Autonomous, Government, Logistics, Technology

Execs Offer Mixed Assessment of Freight Market Since January

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — At the end of the first quarter, there are signs of optimism in the economy but also caution about the sustainability of the momentum, according to economic analysts and trucking executives at the 2017 Truckload Carriers Association conference.

Ari Ashe | Staff Reporter
April 3, 2017
Government, Business, Equipment, Safety, Fuel, Autonomous

Flatbed, Specialty Trailer Makers Tout Strong 1Q Orders, Sales

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Specialty, flatbed and heavy-hauler trailer manufacturers exhibiting at the Mid-America Trucking Show wanted to talk about an exceptionally good start to the year, plus greenhouse-gas emissions regulations, aluminum, manufacturing discipline and a shortage of welders.

Roger Gilroy | Senior Reporter
April 3, 2017
Business, Government, Safety, Logistics, Autonomous

NTSB Encourages Fleets to Root Out Bad Drivers

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A top National Transportation Safety Board official called on motor carriers to do a better job of identifying drivers in their employ with bad driving habits.

Eric Miller | Senior Reporter
April 3, 2017
Business, Government, Safety, Autonomous, Logistics

Bipartisan Support for Road Funds, Tax Reform Likely, ATA Exec Says

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Advancing an infrastructure funding measure alongside a tax reform package in the coming weeks is likely to garner bipartisan backing from policymakers and support from the freight industry, officials representing trucking executives and states’ transportation directors said last week.

Eugene Mulero | Senior Reporter
April 3, 2017
Business, Autonomous, Government, Logistics

Trucking Executives Discuss How Millennials Are Shifting Industry’s Workforce Dynamics

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As baby boomers retire, more companies are hiring millennials to be truck drivers, presenting new challenges to address the differences between the generations in how they view life and work.

Ari Ashe | Staff Reporter
April 3, 2017
Business, Technology, Autonomous

Uber Crash Shows Human Traits in Self-Driving Software

A recent crash involving an Uber Technologies Inc. driverless car suggests autonomous software sometimes takes the same risks as the humans it may one day replace.

Mark Bergen | Bloomberg News
March 30, 2017