Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/1044881
PULSE November 2018 | Overdrive | 3 By Max Heine Editorial director mheine@randallreilly.com Last month, the U.S. Department of Trans- portation released its updated guidance on automated vehicles, AV 3.0. It's intended to clean up outdated or muddy policies and steer the private sector in developing new technolo- gies while working closely with regulators. One highlight: "Driver" and "operator," DOT says, "do not refer exclusively to a human, but may in fact include an automated system." This simple recognition also hints at com- plexities ahead. While autonomous trucking entrepreneurs are making rapid inroads, the holy grail of Level 5 autonomy – true driverless operation – seems to drift further away with every report of an autonomous car accident. I spoke about this with Kelly Regal, associate administrator of research and information technology for the Federal Motor Carrier Safe- ty Administration. "What we're hearing from developers is they're not really even close to a Level 5 com- mercial motor vehicle," she said. "The focus is on Level 4 at the moment. Level 5 is really difficult." A Level 4 vehicle has the technology for fairly advanced driving, even doing something as subjective as judging when it's safe to change lanes. Additional requirements at Level 5, less focused on navigation and more on critical in- teraction and analysis, will require more work. A lot more work. Imagine a vehicle trying to interact with an officer directing traffic at an intersection where the light is out, or how a truck would respond to a trooper trying to pull it over. And considering that self-driving does not mean self-maintaining, driverless trucks will get cited for equipment violations. How will that process work? As for such points, FMCSA expects to initi- ate by yearend an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to address autonomy. It would identify regulatory gaps, including inspection, repair and maintenance, said Larry Minor, an associate administrator at FMCSA. Meanwhile, autonomous truck research and development is moving along. To cite but one example, an autonomous tech leader, TuSimple, plans to have 200 Level 4 trucks on the road next year, writes Aaron Huff of sister publication Commer- cial Carrier Journal, reporting from a McLeod Software user conference. Chief Executive Tom McLeod believes the transpor- tation management software used by shippers, brokers and fleets can evolve "to power an autonomous freight environ- ment" in a highly sophisticated way, Huff reported. "Loads will be dispatched to driverless trucks and exceptions managed from pickup through delivery," McLeod said. As such expectations spread, the public-private coordination encouraged by AV 3.0 should help clarify how to get there. With a sobering awareness of driverless truck challenges, the road to Level 5 trucking should be a very long one. That would be good for safety, not to men- tion preservation of driver jobs. flected on what's transpired in recent months. A year ago, his group was one among a few that demonstrated in D.C. to protest the electronic logging device mandate. "We've moved a lot farther than we ever thought we could have, but we're still talking about hours of service, ELDs have been implemented, park- ing still sucks," he says. "We need things to move at trucker speed." As has become something of a norm for truckers' D.C. actions, press coverage contin- ued to be virtually nonexistent outside of trade press. More commentary from OverdriveOnline.com: Kendall Oakleaf: I'm all for it. Keep up the good work and brotherhood. Rick: Just wish I would have known about it. Would like to have been part of it. Jarid Jennings: A three- day shutdown by all the small trucking companies would cripple this country. Almost everything arrives by truck, therefore America's truck drivers should be treated as the hardworking and coura- geous people they are. These brave people work far more than a 40-hour week, and many are away from their families for weeks at a time. Their compensation for these absences and hours is far from fair for the responsibilities they shoulder. The general public is mostly unaware of how this industry operates, including our elected officials. ... The only true way to make a great change for the good of all is to vote them out and impose term limits for all elected officials. TuSimple is using Peterbilts at Level 4 autonomy to haul commercial cargo daily along I-10 in Arizona. Redefining 'driver'