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, Autonomous

Self-Driving Truck Hauls Freight in Ohio as State Unveils Investment to Aid Research

A semi-autonomous truck operated by Otto has completed the first of multiple test runs planned in Ohio this week as the state announced a $15 million investment in highway sensors and cable to support testing of advanced transportation technologies.

Seth Clevenger | Managing Editor, Features and Multimedia
December 1, 2016

Daily Briefings from Transport Topics

Transport Topics has partnered with Spoken Layer to make one-minute daily briefings available on all your smart devices. Simply say “Alexa, play Transport Topics” or “Okay Google, talk to Transport Topics” to get the day’s biggest trucking headlines.

Business, Safety, Government, Autonomous

October Tonnage Dips 0.9% From 2015

Truck tonnage sagged 0.9% in October versus a year ago, the second consecutive decline in American Trucking Associations’ monthly index, despite other positive economic numbers in the retail, manufacturing and industrial sectors.

Ari Ashe | Staff Reporter
November 28, 2016
Perspective, Business, Autonomous

Opinion: Addition by Subtraction

In a time of business growth, trucking companies may find themselves trying to keep up with increasing demands, including fleet management needs. Regardless of whether the business grows organically or through a merger or acquisition, you need to find a way to manage the needs of your business and customers. However, simply adding more vehicles to your fleet isn’t always the right answer. Sometimes, it comes down to “addition by subtraction.”

November 28, 2016
Business, Fuel, Government, Equipment, Autonomous

Big Drop in Class 8 Registrations Signals End of Truck-Buying Spree

A sharp decline in registrations of new trucks is taking the air out of what has been a remarkably robust period of growth in the size of the nation’s Class 8 fleet.

Daniel P. Bearth | Staff Writer
November 28, 2016
Business, Equipment, Autonomous

Borne Back Ceaselessly Into the Past, Truck OEMs Return to Medium Duty

The reintroduction of medium-duty models from three manufacturers will reconfigure that segment of the commercial truck industry, especially in the lighter weight classes.

Jim Galligan | Special to Transport Topics
November 28, 2016
Business, Autonomous

J.B. Hunt Settles Discrimination Case With Sikh Applicants Over Hair Testing

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. and four East Indian Sikh truck driver applicants agreed to a settlement — with the company paying more than a quarter million dollars — that would no longer force job applicants to submit to hair drug testing if it violated their religious beliefs.

Eric Miller | Senior Reporter
November 28, 2016
Government, Business, Safety, Technology, Autonomous

That Truck You See on Ohio Roads This Week Might Be Driving Itself

Just weeks after making what it called the world's first shipment by a self-driving truck, Otto plans to travel a 35-mile stretch of U.S. Route 33 in Ohio in another test of its autonomous technology.

November 27, 2016
Government, Business, Autonomous

Michigan House OKs Truck Platooning

Two months and three days after Michigan’s Senate unanimously passed a bill allowing truck platooning in the state, the House followed suit Nov. 10.

David Elfin | Staff Reporter
November 14, 2016
Business, Safety, Government, Autonomous

Trump Touts Infrastructure

In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s win, trucking and transportation industry executives saw the president-elect’s bullish interest in modernizing the country’s infrastructure as a glass-half-full.

Eugene Mulero | Senior Reporter
November 14, 2016
Business, Government, Autonomous

Intermodal Drops 4.6% as Trucking Gains Loads

Intermodal volumes declined in the third quarter because truck prices are lower than a year ago and that has diverted business away from railroads, the Intermodal Association of North America reported.

Ari Ashe | Staff Reporter
November 14, 2016