The majority of Americans say they have concerns about heavy-duty trucks operating on our highways with no one in the driver’s seat.
Yet driverless vehicles – and trucks – continue to grow in prevalence across the U.S.
Aurora Innovation seeks an exemption from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to help the company significantly expand its fleet of driverless trucks over the next five years.
Those who oppose the exemption request have only days left to voice their concerns to the FMCSA.
Aurora wants the agency to approve a five-year exemption from a regulation requiring truck drivers to place warning devices around the truck when stopped on a highway shoulder. Specifically, Aurora is asking to use a set of cab-mounted warning beacons instead of having a person deploy warning triangles around the truck. If granted, the exemption would apply to Aurora and other motor carriers operating Level 4 automated commercial motor vehicles.
Aurora told FMCSA that it wants to nearly double its fleet from 109 to 200 by the end of 2026. Additionally, the company projects that it could expand to thousands of driverless trucks over the next five years.
The Pittsburgh-based self-driving technology company also recently announced a 200-mile route between Dallas and Oklahoma City.
FMCSA is giving the public through May 15 to comment on Aurora’s exemption request.
OOIDA, which represents small-business truckers, has been busy rallying truck drivers to oppose Aurora’s exemption.
“Self-driving trucking fleets are seeking an exemption from warning device regulations to remove human operators from trucks,” OOIDA wrote on its Fighting For Truckers website. “Tell FMCSA NO!”
Hundreds of truck drivers have already answered OOIDA’s call.
“The core safety function of warning triangles is not simply visibility, but advance warning distance,” Michael Eaton wrote. “Properly placed triangles extend hundreds of feet behind a stopped truck, giving approaching drivers critical time to perceive, react and safely maneuver. At highway speeds, even a difference of a few seconds in reaction time can determine whether a crash is avoided or becomes a severe rear-end collision.”
Chris Hughes told the agency that driverless trucks are a bad idea overall.
“These self-driving trucks are a waste of time and money,” Hughes wrote. “They’ll cost more than a human driver, and who is going to be held accountable in an accident? The carrier, the truck manufacturer or the software company? They’ll be more susceptible to theft, too. Because without a human driver to empathize with, people won’t have to worry about another person’s safety or their willingness to protect the cargo.”
How to comment
If you would like to add your two cents to the conversation, there’s no time to waste. To file a comment on Aurora’s exemption request, click here or go to Regulations.gov and enter Docket No. FMCSA-2026-0958. The deadline is May 15.
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