Autonomous Trucking May Descend the Rabbit Hole of Local Politics

After vetoing legislation last year that would have required a human driver in autonomous vehicles over 10,000 pounds, California Gov. Gavin Newsom may again have to choose between two of his main constituencies: Big Tech and organized labor.

2 bills equal double trouble for autonomous trucking

Two bills starting their journeys through the State Assembly and State Senate take undifferentiated aim at autonomous vehicles — robotaxis and autonomously driven commercial trucks.

Assembly Bill 2286 is practically a copy of AB316 passed by both legislative chambers in 2023 before being struck down by Newsom. Senate Bill 915 gives local municipalities more authority over autonomous regulations. Oversight for autonomous vehicles currently rests with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the state Public Utilities Commission.

Both bills have vocal backing from the Teamsters union, which makes safety and job preservation its clarion calls.

Teamsters protests of autonomous vehicles without human drivers on board are frequent in California. (Photo: Teamsters)

"Gov. Newsom can continue to cower to Big Tech and put millions of good jobs in jeopardy, or he can grow a backbone and stand up for working people" Lindsay Dougherty, Teamsters Western Region International vice president and secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 399, said in January.

"Either way, the Teamsters are not backing down from this fight."

Teamsters protests of autonomous vehicles without human drivers on board are frequent in California. (Photo: Teamsters)

Latest autonomous vehicle battleground

These are the latest battles for the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association (AVIA), which balances state and federal lobbying support with education about driverless vehicles. The feds focus on vehicle design, construction and performance. States regulate authorizing autonomous vehicles on their roads, as well as insurance, law enforcement and some other regulations.

"Industry can expect to be playing whack-a-mole on autonomous vehicle bans, at least until the federal government introduces a federal framework that creates guidelines around autonomous operations" Dan Goff, Mountain View, California-based Kodiak Robotics director of external affairs, told me.

SB915 gets its first hearing Wednesday before the Senate Local Government Committee. If it passes there, its next stop is the Senate Transportation Committee at a future date.

"SB915 is not about making sure that local governments feel heard" Jeff Farrah, AVIA executive director, told me. "It is ultimately an effective ban on the technology because it requires that every locality pass an AV ordinance before an AV operates on their roads."

SB915 passage would be de facto ban on autonomous trucks

Since no municipalities currently have such ordinances on their books, SB915's passage would amount to a de facto ban.

"The idea that you have to go through an additional layer of complexity is outrageous" Farrah said.

Jeff Farrah, executive director of the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, says California Senate Bill 915 would create an effective ban on autonomous trucking in the state. AVIA

California has allowed autonomous vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds on its roads since the middle of the last decade. Rulemaking on heavy-duty commercial vehicles was just getting started last year when AB316 hijacked the process. Attention focused on the bill's progression through the Assembly and the Senate.

The Teamsters said more than 90% of legislators favored AB316. Yet there was no attempt to override Newsom's veto. Instead, Assembly Member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry submitted AB2286 in February.

"The autonomous trucking industry has cast this bill as a ban on technology when it explicitly states that testing and deployment will happen with a Human Safety Operator" she said in a Feb. 13 Teamsters' news release. "Using their logic, they're the ones who support a ban.  A ban on humans in trucks. A ban on working people's ability to provide for their families and provide safe roadways for Californians."   

AVIA lines up SB915 opposition

In advance of next week's SB915 hearing, the AVIA submitted a letter signed by 68 organizations, including most autonomous trucking developers, opposing the legislation.

"We need to make sure we're making the case and assembling a broad coalition … vocalizing concerns over these really outlandish proposals" Farrah said.

AVIA's attempts to persuade the Teamsters that human- and robot-driven trucks can coexist have gone nowhere.

"We have so many demands on our freight ecosystem in this country that we need both AV trucks and we need truck drivers to meet all the demands that farmers and ranchers and manufacturers are placing on it" Farrah said.

Goff said Kodiak sees recent accidents involving autonomous ride-hailing vehicles sweeping up driverless trucks in the Teamsters' outrage over AV safety.

"The genuine challenges some companies in the robotaxi industry faced in 2023 presented an opening for organized labor to try and slow autonomous vehicle expansion" he said.

Angst and mistrust of AVs that show up in public surveys like an annual pulse check by AAA reflect a lack of understanding and exposure, Farrah said. In cities like Phoenix where robotaxis have been in use for more than two years, public awareness, engagement and acceptance are high.

State-by-state scorecard

Autonomous vehicles now are permitted to operate in 24 states. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill in February to set up a regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles.

The AVIA's "State of AV" report released Wednesday said AVs have driven nearly 70 million miles on public U.S. roads — equivalent to 293 round trips to the moon. CEOs of AVIA member companies said their biggest challenge is regulatory clarity around AVs.

Farrah hoped Kentucky would become the 25th state to allow driverless vehicles. But Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed pro-autonomous legislation last Friday for a second straight year. The legislature could override the veto if it passes the bill again this month.

"From a policy perspective, it's easy to focus on the daily riffraff" Farrah said. "But if you take a step back and look at the last legislative session, you had eight proposals to require a human safety operator in an autonomous truck. All eight of those were defeated.

"This year, you have a similar amount introduced. None of them have gotten over the finish line at this point."

Farrah didn't directly respond when asked whether another Newsom veto would be required to save the day for autonomous vehicles in California.

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Briefly noted …

After three lengthy United Auto Workers strikes in the last five years, Volvo Group VLVLY is adding a new heavy-duty truck plant in Mexico. 

The Mineta Transportation Institute says California could lose $1 billion a year in gasoline and diesel tax revenue through an electric vehicles push.

Though parent Traton Group favors battery-electric vehicles, German heavy-duty truck subsidiary MAN plans to produce 200 hydrogen combustion-enginel trucks as soon as 2025.

General Motors is bringing electric commercial delivery van maker BrightDrop back in-house as part of GM Evolve, ending its independence after three years.

BrightDrop electric delivery vans are now part of the General Motors Evolve division. (Photo: General Motors)

Data analytics provider Uptake has named Adam McElhinney, its former head of data sciences, as CEO.

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That's it for this week. Thanks for reading and watching.

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