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, Technology, Autonomous

Fee-Based Smart Lanes Will End Traffic, Lyft Co-Founder Says

Lyft president and co-founder John Zimmer suggests adopting a system of smart lanes that incentivize drivers to travel in groups.

Marco della Cava | USA Today
January 17, 2017
Perspective, Government, Business, Safety, Logistics, Autonomous, Fuel

Opinion: Appreciate Truck Drivers Every Day of the Year

National Truck Driver Appreciation Week was Sept. 11–17 last year here in America. It is recognized as a time to honor and acknowledge the nation’s truck drivers for their dedication and hard work and for putting up with extraordinarily challenging working conditions throughout the year.

January 16, 2017
Editorial, Business, Safety, Government, Logistics, Autonomous

Editorial: Salute 20 Ambassadors of Trucking

Please take a moment to note and appreciate something that doesn’t happen nearly often enough. Twenty of our fellow citizens are being lauded with national attention for devotion to their industry, working hard and carefully on a consistent basis over time, in a way that helps to make for a smoothly running society.

January 16, 2017
Perspective, Business, Fuel, Autonomous, Government, Equipment, Safety, Technology

Opinion: The Hidden Cost of Extended Idling

You don’t have to be a diesel mechanic to know that extended idling is bad for business. Frequent or prolonged idling increases emissions, wastes fuel and puts unnecessary wear on your engine. That’s why, due in large part to increasingly strict emissions standards, the trucking industry has seen a dramatic increase in idle-reduction technologies.

January 9, 2017
Business, Safety, Government, Autonomous, Logistics, Technology, Equipment

Nonbank Lending Rises in Late 2016; Truckers Struggle for Traditional Loans

Nontraditional bank lending to trucking companies picked up moderately in the second half of 2016 as fleets sought to survive during a sluggish freight market, according to lenders with exposure in transportation financing.

Ari Ashe | Staff Reporter
January 9, 2017
Letters to the Editor, Business, Fuel, Government, Logistics, Technology, Autonomous

Letters: Skepticism Over Hydrogen Claims, Shipper Tactics

The Nikola One isn’t actually a zero-emissions vehicle when you see the entire process.

January 2, 2017
Government, Business, Safety, Fuel, Autonomous, Equipment, Logistics

EPA Plans to Propose Regulation to Tighten NOx Limit in 2024

The Environmental Protection Agency is beginning work on a proposed rule that would set new standards to further reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from heavy-duty truck engines beginning in 2024, the same year a provision kicks in for the agency’s heavy-duty Phase 2 greenhouse-gas program.

Eric Miller and David Elfin | Staff Reporters
January 2, 2017
Government, Business, Safety, Autonomous, Logistics

2017 Year in Preview: ‘Expect the Unexpected’ for Trucking, Nation

Uncertainty dominates the outlook for trucking and freight transportation in 2017.

Daniel P. Bearth | Staff Writer
January 2, 2017
Technology, Autonomous

V2V Proposal Travels Winding Road

The United States has been on the cusp of connected vehicles that communicate directly with each other and with traffic signs and highway infrastructure since 1999, when a slice of electromagnetic spectrum was reserved for such a purpose by the Federal Communications Commission.

Jonathan S. Reiskin | Associate News Editor
January 2, 2017
Business, Technology, Autonomous

Uber-Like Package-Delivery Service Roadie Harnesses Holiday Travelers

Roadie, an Atlanta-based company which began service in central Ohio earlier this year, connects road-trippers with those who are looking for a way to ship a package, either across town or across the nation.

Tim Feran | The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch
December 28, 2016