The Promise and Peril of Self-Driving Trucks

Self-driving technology is making its way onto America’s roads. Companies including Lyft, Ford and Google’s Waymo are investing heavily to develop driverless vehicles and transportation services. Driverless technology is also being developed for the trucking industry, a cornerstone of the economy that moves 70% of manufactured goods yet finds itself challenged by high fuel costs, safety concerns, and a shortage of drivers.

Guest Steve Viscelli, Senior Fellow with the Kleinman Center, looks at the potential for driverless trucks to stake their claim on the nation’s highways and create a more efficient transportation system.  He also talks about potential impacts that vast fleets of driverless trucks may have on energy demand and air quality, as well as labor, and the choices policy makers face in balancing these outcomes.

guest

Steve Viscelli

Lecturer, Department of Sociology

Steve Viscelli is a faculty fellow at the Kleinman Center and a lecturer in the Department of Sociology. His research focuses on work, labor market economics, and economic regulation, specifically in trucking industry.

host

Andy Stone

Energy Policy Now Host and Producer

Andy Stone is producer and host of Energy Policy Now, the Kleinman Center’s podcast series. He previously worked in business planning with PJM Interconnection and was a senior energy reporter at Forbes Magazine.