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The self-driving tech company Aurora has developed a virtual driver for heavy-duty vehicles in the United States to work with any truck manufacturer, addressing the anticipated (and already identified) problem with driver shortage. As of 1 May, Aurora felt confident enough about its safety case to remove its safety drivers from two autonomous Paccar trucks equipped with the Aurora Driver operating commercially carrying goods for customers between Dallas and Houston.
But two weeks later, Paccar got cold feet and wanted the safety driver back behind the steering wheel to be ready to intervene if necessary. Equipping traditional truck manufacturers’ products with self-driving technology from another company is challenging from several perspectives.
For truck manufacturers that have been around for a century, much is at stake when launching driverless products to be operated on public roads. The brand image can be destroyed in the blink of an eye, and the trust that has been built up over decades in society and customers can disappear overnight if something devastating happens.
The road testing of self-driving trucks has been spared from major incidents, but trucks are much bigger than cars and will cause much more damage.
Full Article: IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, Volume 20, Number 3, September 2025
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