Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/671317
4 www.bigrigowner.com M A Y 2 0 1 6 COVER STORY > Technological advances over the next two to three decades could massage one of owner-operators' biggest pain points: hours of service regulations seen as too restrictive for truckers' productivity and too rigid for their highly variable schedules. As technology increasingly automates basic driver duties, drivers' jobs could become less tiresome and stressful. Also, as collision avoidance technology spreads to more trucks, it could par- tially compensate for fatigued driving by eliminating or at least mitigating the severity of some accidents. Automation "shifts the whole job as we know it today," says John Elliott, chief executive offi cer of Taylor, Mich.- based Load One. He says the industry should expect "workload rules that apply to what that world is and not the world today." Though the buzz surrounding automa- tion tends to center on "driverless" vehicles, some of the technology that makes autonomous trucks possible is already available. Basic driver assistance technology such as active braking systems, automated transmissions and predictive cruise control lay the groundwork for more advanced systems and regulatory reform, says Fred Andersky of Bendix, a provider of technologies that inte- grate sensors and cameras to automate braking and help prevent collisions and rollovers. "The potential is there to alter hours of service based on where these tech- Tomorrow's Trucker: Advances in technology point toward hours relief By James Jaillet