The trucking industry and safety officials are nearly unanimous in wanting federal regulatory standards for autonomous trucks now — as the technology takes off — before states start introducing individual rules, but this resolve prompted mixed reactions from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation during a hearing Wednesday.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) began the hearing by highlighting many of the senators’ main concerns: safety and job displacement.
Several senators — including Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) — fear automated trucks will eliminate the need for human drivers, thus putting thousands of drivers out of work. Furthermore, if the industry automates trucks, cyber security will become a critical issue, as operations digitize and move to cloud-based systems.
This is why Peters and other members of the committee think standards for automated trucks should be removed from Rep. Robert Latta’s (R-OH) SELF DRIVE Act. This legislature aims to establish the first national regulatory standard for automated vehicles, was passed by the House last week, and is currently under Senate review, even as committee chairman Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Peters are writing their own bill.
“Automated trucking raises a very different set of issues,” Peters told the committee. “There should be a more robust discussion. We need to make sure we do it right.”
The industry wants a federal regulatory standard
But all of the witnesses at Wednesday’s hearing — with the exception of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters — reassured the committee that automated vehicles will produce more jobs, reduce crash rates and fatalities, increase productivity and cut costs.
Furthermore, the trucking industry fears that if a national standard isn’t set as soon as possible, the states will start coming up with their own standards that may clash and stifle interstate commerce.
“Drivers will play an important role in automated trucks,” said Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations (ATA). “In order to maintain a free flow of goods, we need uniform rules. We need the federal government and agencies to support innovation.”
In order to maintain a free flow of goods, we need uniform rules.
Chris Spear
American Trucking Association President and CEO
For the trucking industry, it is imperative to set a national standard because Google, Tesla and Uber are already testing automated trucks, and commercial truck manufacturer Navistar is investing in the development of autonomous trucks. Companies want to hone the tech and start implementing it in their operations as soon as they can, but if there are no national standards, innovating and implementing becomes incredibly difficult because companies don’t know what’s “allowed” and what isn’t.
If the implementation of national standards is delayed, companies and freight movement could be seriously disrupted when regulation is finally implemented further down the road. Companies could face losses, operational inefficiencies and scrambled supply chains if states are left to regulate automated trucks or if national regulation is pushed back.
When asked by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MI) whether there is “any reason to think that automated vehicle technology should be fundamentally different for passenger versus commercial” vehicles, Spear replied, “I think we need one federal standard as opposed to 50 different state regulations. Compliance with multiple state regimes would be disruptive to the economy.”
Senators and Teamsters fear job displacement
General Secretary-Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Ken Hall, advised the committee to table automated trucking standards because he’s worried about driver injuries and job displacement.
“It is incumbent upon this committee to make sure drivers are not left behind by this new technology,” he said. “Market forces do not convince companies not to cheat. It is important for this to get done correctly, not just quickly.”
Spear reminded the committee that, according to data compiled by the ATA, the industry is facing a severe driver shortage, missing about 50,000 workers. According to additional ATA data, the truck driver turnover rate is currently at 80%. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a proposal in June to ease the process of attaining a commercial driver’s license, to address the truck driver shortage and encourage more potential drivers to apply.
If anything, automation will help fill the shortage, but Spear — and Navistar CEO Troy Clarke — believe automated trucks will create more jobs, not destroy them.
Market forces do not convince companies not to cheat.
Ken Hall
General Secretary-Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Clarke said more workers will be needed to manage the new technology, and drivers will become more like airline pilots by letting trucks run themselves, but able to step in and take control if necessary. According to Clarke, this new era of drivers will need to be even more “highly trained and skilled.”
Spear said he doesn’t expect trucks to run themselves without human involvement anytime soon, and he hopes automated tech in trucks will attract younger generations — mainly millennials — to work in the industry.
“It makes the industry more savvy, more attractive,” he told the committee.
Job displacement is decades away, according to Spear, because partially and fully automated trucks aren’t going to be driverless anytime soon. On the other hand, Tesla recently announced plans to test fully electric, platooning trucks and at least one automated truck has made a commercial delivery in Colorado, which suggests that job displacement could be coming faster than Spear and Clarke would like to admit.
The industry believes automated trucks will be safer
According to National Security Council President Deborah A.P. Hersman, automated trucks will reduce crashes and crash fatalities.
“We believe all crash fatalities are preventable,” she said. “We can help reduce these statistics with new technology.”
Lee said he thinks automation is “inevitable,” and that it would be unwise to “impede” it. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) agreed: “There’s a demand for it, it’s going to happen whether we’re a part of this discussion or not.”
But Cortez Masto also mentioned concern about job displacement, and added, “We need to find the balance and address the issue of worker displacement.”
Hall told the committee he thinks companies “must” have oversight to make sure passenger and driver safety and cybersecurity are properly addressed while integrating automation. Spear and Clarke affirmed that companies are taking cybersecurity very seriously.
“We work closely with the Department of Defense and the FBI in our new tech testing,” Spear said.
We work closely with the Department of Defense and the FBI in our tech testing.
Chris Spear
American Trucking Association President and CEO
The committee won’t make a decision until at least next week, but the House's SELF DRIVE Act is unlikely to survive Senate review unscathed. Thune and Peters are drafting their own bill, but whether commercial vehicles are included in the final bill will dramatically affect trucking innovation and the industry in the long run.
Despite concerns from the Teamsters, the industry is confident and ready to move forward with automation, and a federal delay won’t stop them from implementing the new tech, and therein lies the danger: if states are left to decide how to regulate automated trucks once they hit the market, the trucking industry — which crosses state lines every day — will likely struggle to jump through all the state hoops in order to use even the smallest degree of automated tech in trucks. This could set the U.S. back in terms of innovation and integration.
“This is the Space Race of our industry,” Clarke told the committee. “In the basic tech, we’re ahead [of other countries, like China and Germany]. What we need to do is integrate this new tech.”
