FORT WORTH, Texas : For companies working to make self-driving trucks a near-term reality, all roads lead to Texas.
Companies have poured billions of dollars into developing the technology they say will increase road safety and alleviate truck driver shortages. The self-driving truck industry in the U.S. is expected to rapidly grow over the next decade, with analysts estimating its size at between $250 billion and $400 billion by 2030.
The industry is using the bill as a blueprint when lobbying other states about regulating self-driving vehicles, a Gatik executive and safety researchers said. Texas boasts some of the country's fastest-growing metropolitan areas as well as several entry ports from Mexico. It also sits in the middle of one of the busiest U.S. freight routes, Atlanta-Los Angeles, which carries more than 8,500 trucks daily, according to the U.S. DOT. Self-driving companies hope to automate many of those highways.
"The state is not being laissez-faire about the operation of these vehicles, they have to comply with traffic laws," TxDOT's Anderson said.