Implications of Autonomous Trucks hitting US roads this year

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The idea of autonomous vehicles (AVs) has been around for almost a century, but over the past couple of decades we’ve seen vehicle manufacturers make significant headway in developing and implementing new technologies to make this concept a reality. While we may still be years off from full integration of AV cars onto the roadways, we could see AV trucks driving as soon as this year; more specifically, level 4 autonomous tractor trailers in which an automated driving system (ADS) can operate the vehicles and perform all driving tasks without a human driver. Allowing these AV tractor trailers onto our roadways will be viewed as a critical test to the industry as a whole, further proving the ability for AVs to overtake human operated vehicles as a safer and more reliable alternative. These AVs will transport goods from state to state without a driver.