Driverless big rigs may soon be cruising down a particular highway in Texas. Axios writes that, later this month, driverless trucks plan to unleash themselves upon a 200-mile stretch of Interstate 45 between Dallas and Houston.
Aurora Innovation, a Pittsburgh firm founded in 2017, has developed a truck, outfitted with sensors and specialized software, that can allegedly operate 24/7, with no breaks and no driver, while transporting large amounts of cargo to and fro across America’s freeway system. Aurora has been testing its vehicles in closed environments, and has also used “virtual testing” of real-world conditions. Aurora calls its AI-fueled software system the “Aurora Driver,” and plans to have its driverless trucks on the road by the end of the month.
According to Axios, the new industry will revolve around a business model in which AI vendors lease their automated software to truck manufacturers, who will then sell the vehicles to logistics companies that need driving fleets.
If all of this conjures Final Destination type scenarios, the companies behind this technology swear it’s safe (and some data agrees). In fact, one of the advertised benefits of driverless trucks is that they are actually safer than those with someone behind the wheel. “At Aurora, we believe that the benefits of self-driving technology will increase efficiency and mobility, while bringing a reliable driver supply and heightened safety to America’s roads,” the company’s website says. “A safer world where goods never stop moving.” Earlier this month, Aurora released a report that purported to explain how its model of automated big rigs can safely navigate roadways.
Many trucks now on the road have extensive safety features including automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning. In 2023 the NHTSA proposed rules to require those safety features on all semis. While self driving cars might appear to make driving safer there’s little data on how safely self driving trucks will operate on a major interstate There’s no telling how those stats might change if you introduce a large numbers of software-guided semis onto a heavily used public roadway. Waymo already operates on highways and interstates with relative safety, but its vehicles are much less dangerous in a crash than an 18-wheeler with a full load.
It should also be pointed out a major incentive for the development of this technology is money, not safety. AI companies are racing to become the first to corner the market for this kind of automation. Trucking companies, meanwhile, have an incentive to invest because it means they won’t have to hire drivers. Given there’s a shortage of drivers, with many blaming low wages and bad hours, driver-less trucks would be a big deal for the industry.
Aurora is also currently suing a federal automotive safety agency, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Aurora had requested that the FMCSA exempt it from a federal regulation that stipulates truck drivers must deploy roadside warning devices whenever they’re stopped on the side of the road. Obviously, since Aurora doesn’t have human operators, there would be no one to physically deploy the necessary devices. The FMCSA denied the exemption request, thus sparking the litigation.
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