Robotrucks have joined the roadways, but this uncharted territory comes with a lot of questions, concerns and opportunities. How will safety and job security be affected by autonomous vehicles? Many skeptics are still weary. However, the benefits of autonomous vehicles seem to be stacking up favorably – by reducing human error crashes, operational and logistical costs and the driver shortage.
In today’s blog post, we’ll cover:
- Autonomous Trucks and Vehicles Today – Who’s Using Them?
- Driverless Trucks – What’s at Stake, Challenges and Concerns
- Benefits of Removing Humans from the Driver Seat?
Autonomous Trucks and Vehicles Today - Who’s Using Them?
Multiple large commercial trucking companies have already implemented driverless vehicles including Aurora Trucking and JB Hunt/Kodiak Robotics, along with personal Automated Driver Systems (ADS) like Waymo.
Autonomous Trucks and Vehicles Today – Who’s Using Them?
Aurora Trucking – In 2024, JB Hunt, Bridgestone Americas and Kodiak Robotics initiated its first collaborative autonomous long-haul delivery between South Carolina and Dallas.
JB Hunt / Kodiak – In 2025, Aurora started driverless freight deliveries between Dallas and Houston with Aurora Driver and have since reported positive results.
“They’ve [Aurora Trucking] driven over over 2.6 million miles autonomously, hauling over 9,500 freight loads at close to 100% on-time rate, with no major safety incidents.” (The Trucker)
Waymo – Waymo is the first company to deploy a self-driving fleet. In San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin and Atlanta, Waymo driverless taxis have completed more than 250,000 paid rides per week.
With human error accounting for approximately 87% of large truck accidents in the U.S. (according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)’s Large Truck Crash Causation Study), for large players like JB Hunt and Aurora, integrating autonomous trucks is an obvious next solution to minimize driver risk. But why now?
Data-driven solutions are entering the market in every aspect of business now. Whether it’s saving time on proposal writing and pitch decks, improving cybersecurity or transporting freight more efficiently – data is a part of everything we touch.
President Scott Grandys of ClearConnect Solutions has built his company on data-driven solutions for the commercial transportation industry and explained the similarities of its new Crash Prediction technology to prediction models like Aurora, Kodiak and Waymo.
“Machine learning and AI can be most prevalently seen in autonomous vehicles where first the vehicle learns from the driver, cameras and driver’s habits. Then the driver is simply a safety mechanism in case something goes wrong, to finally the vehicle drives by itself due to it continuously learning from historical data activity. Our Crash Predictive Analytics Technology was built and operates very similarly to an autonomous vehicle [to predict the probability of crashes].”
Similarly, Kodiak’s technology uses AI-driven, multi-sensor architecture to adapt and continuously improve its driving capabilities through real-world (and simulated) learning. The more driving time the autonomous truck gets, the better the machine becomes at predicting every driving situation before it happens, such as weather, pedestrian, driver and vehicle disruptions.
Driverless Trucks - What’s at Stake, Challenges and Concerns
If operating a tractor-trailer across thousands of miles with an empty driver seat sounds a bit scary, you’re not alone. Skeptics are concerned largely about safety, amongst other risks.
- Safety – Ensuring the safety of pedestrians, drivers and interstate infrastructure workers
- Trust – Gaining public trust with transparency and time
- Job Security – Eliminating an entire driver workforce could be devastating to millions
- Technology Reliability – Concerns with cybersecurity breaches and software failures
- Federal Regulation – The need for more oversight and transparency
Industry associations including the American Trucking Association, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, are monitoring the progress and safety of Automated Driving Systems (ADS) as a potential solution to meet growing supply chain demands.
Trucking union, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has questioned the safety of driverless vehicles, in addition to the impact it may have on millions of CMV jobs for the middle class.
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) estimates that “the industry will need to hire nearly 1.1 million new drivers over the next decade to keep up with retirements, industry growth, and normal driver turnover.”
Benefits of Removing Humans from the Driver Seat
With every great challenge, brings even greater possibilities.
Autonomous trucks have a long way to go before trucking companies begin more fully integrating these truck-bots into the supply chain. However, the potential benefits could be revolutionary.
Benefits of Driverless Trucks
- 24/7 scheduling
- Reduces delivery times
- Lowers operational and logistical costs
- Bridges the driver shortage gap
- Improves road safety
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s study found that “the adoption of ADS in the long-haul trucking sector will increase GDP, capital, employment, wages, and welfare that can be monetized into billions of dollars—without mass lay-offs of long-haul truck drivers.” The study also estimates U.S. employment could increase by 26,400 – 35,100 jobs per year, due to new logistics and tech roles.
Based on the ATA’s predictions that the industry will need to hire nearly 1.1 million new drivers over the next decade, autonomous trucks may help shrink the driver shortage.
As autonomous driving technology strengthens with better accuracy and reliability, public trust and federal regulations are expected to improve, too. The commercial trucking industry should be prepared to see more driverless trucks sharing the road.
If you’d like to read more about Crash Prediction technology and how it uses AI, machine learning and data-driven analytics to predict commercial vehicle crashes, check out the blog post here.
