The prospect of autonomous or self-driving vehicles may still seem like a thing of the future, but there are already many vehicles on the road that have autonomous features. Vehicles will continue to evolve and automate over time until full automation is achieved, and that may be sooner than we thought. Transportation industry leaders must be ready to direct their organizations through this major transition to keep on the cutting edge of industry technology.

The First Wave: The first steps toward automation are already taking place in the form of driver assistance functions like automatic emergency braking, lane centering assistance, and adaptive cruise control. The California Department of Transportation is already widening the striping on I-5 from Orland to the Oregon border to allow autonomous vehicles to more readily ‘read the road’.

The Second Wave: According to a Transport Topics News article, "The near-term goal of [The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration] is to set up a framework to permit regulatory exemptions that will allow manufacturers and carriers to participate in pilot programs." In other words, the second wave of autonomous vehicles will require a person behind the wheel to intervene in emergency situations. This will allow rule makers room to gather data to use when legislating for future fully autonomous vehicles while still maintaining safe driving conditions during testing. Roadsbridges.com reports that an autonomous semi-truck just drove 2,400 miles, completing a coast-to-coast trip from Los Angeles, CA to Jacksonville, FL. The trip took 5 days to complete to allow the onboard safety driver time to rest, however, once the protocols have been established, the trip could be shortened to as little as 2 days!

The Third Wave: The third wave will include fully autonomous vehicles that do not ever require a driver to regain manual control, even in emergency situations. This wave of autonomous vehicles will be highly tested and heavily legislated machines that can safely transport goods and materials without any human intervention. Google’s Waymo is already expected to launch its first publicly available service in Arizona later this year.

Continuous Improvement: As is the case with any technology, autonomous vehicle systems will continue to grow more complex even after the third wave of full autonomy. Industry leaders are already having conversations about updating legislation to make room for autonomous vehicles. These discussions include a wide array of topics like cyber-security, labor laws, and safety standards. Whether we are ready or not, fully autonomous vehicles are the future. If you'd like to learn more about Freight Scouts' transportation management solutions, please contact us or visit our website.