The future of rubber-tired transportation is coming, and Louisiana is signalling the trucking industry it will be ready for their arrival.
August first a new law went into effect establishing authority over the operation of driverless trucks in the state. HR455 puts the responsibility over the regulation of driverless trucks in the hands of the Department of Transportation and Development.
Stephen Glascock, Intelligent Transportation Systems Engineer Administrator with DOTD, describes the department's responsibilities: "The framework of the legislation allows us to set in motion establishing policies, an operating framework and administrative rules for allowing those types of vehicle to operate on our highways."
DOTD will be the lead agency for designing and building the physical and cyberspace infrastructure for autonomous trucks to operate in the state. This includes planning and constuction of highway transponders, special lanes, inspection stations, and other real world structures to augment the vehicle's operation.
In cyberspace, the development of software to communicate with driverless truck companies, the ability to track vehicles, halt them remotely, run real-time checks of on-board systems for compliance.
In essence, it all has to start somewhere. And the law enacted August first puts Louisiana on the road to welcoming driverless trucks to the state.