Robot trucks are getting their own Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspections because, well, they are not like other trucks.
It took 2 1/2 years of work by commercial motor vehicle inspectors, state highway patrols, inspection and enforcement experts, motor carriers, autonomous truck developers and government officials to develop standards to inspect trucks with automated driving systems.
“This is an important step that will facilitate safe and effective deployment of automation,” Kevin Grove, director of safety and technology policy for the American Trucking Associations, said in a news release.
The new rules approved Sept. 22 by the CVSA differ from how an inspector treats a human-driven truck. They bridge a trust gap between the trucking industry and law enforcement, Dan Goff, head of external affairs for Kodiak Robotics, told FreightWaves.
“I think the biggest challenge really is building that trust between law enforcement and the industry and helping law enforcement understand why we’re being so proactive in trying to work with them and willing to submit ourselves to a fairly complex inspection,” Goff said.
Human drivers conduct a pre-trip and a post-trip inspection. Along the route, the driver faces weigh/inspection stations or random roadside stops for CVSA North American Standard Inspections.
Today’s roadside enforcement inspections rely on assistance from the driver. Robot-driven trucks without safety drivers won’t have that.
Training course for carriers inspecting robot trucks
The Enhanced CMV Inspection Program includes a no-defect, point-of-origin inspection program for ADS-equipped trucks. It is more stringent than for human-driven trucks. It takes effective immediately but does not impact autonomous trucks with safety drivers supervising operations.
Carrier personnel conducting the inspections must take a 40-hour CVSA training course and exam. Pre-trip inspections take about 40 minutes, twice as long as for a human-operated truck, said Goff, who chaired the ATA task force hat worked with CVSA to create the program.
“Enhanced CMV inspections will raise the bar for road safety while giving law enforcement increased transparency into autonomous truck operations,” said Ariel Wolf, general counsel for the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association.
Checklist to avoid extra inspections
Drivers will yield to CVSA inspectors to conduct pre-trip inspections on certain ADS-equipped trucks at their point of origin before they are put into service. Autonomous trucks that fail the inspection must be repaired.
CVSA inspectors also will conduct in-transit inspections at certain intervals throughout the trip. On the road, an ADS-equipped truck would have to show that it:
— Has passed the origin/destination inspection.
— Has automated driving systems functioning.
— Runs within its operational design domain, the conditions in which it is intended to operate safely.
Bypassing weigh stations
Autonomous vehicles checking those boxes would bypass fixed inspection sites. CVSA inspectors could pull over an autonomous truck only if they observe an imminent hazard or during a post-crash investigation. ADS-equipped vehicles must be able to respond to law enforcement should an officer attempt to pull one over.
“Given the high level of faith in the training of the inspectors, the idea is that unless an officer sees something that they don’t like, [autonomous trucks] will presume to be able to bypass inspection sites,” Goff said.
Avoid random inspections started with passenger buses
A hands-off approach started with passenger buses. They don’t get pulled into weigh stations to avoid inconveniencing passengers. With the new rules, autonomous freight presumably avoids random inspections.
“This enhanced inspection procedure for driverless commercial motor vehicles will ensure the highest level of safety and provide law enforcement with the information they need to be confident about the roadworthiness of autonomous trucks operating on our roadways,” said CVSA President Maj. Chris Nordloh with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Editor’s note: Updates with comments from Dan Goff, chair of the ATA task force that created the program with the CVSA.
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