MONTREAL -- Once thought of as a distant fantasy, autonomous trucks are moving towards commercial reality on Canadian highways as companies look to boost productivity amid a driver shortage and governments seek to reduce deadly crashes. They are not yet driving themselves out of warehouses and down the highways, but companies of all sizes --including General Motors, Google and Uber -- are testing out the technology. Already a banner year in self-driving advancements -- including the first on-street test of an autonomous vehicle in Canada -- interest in the sector picked up in the closing months of 2017 after Tesla Inc. showcased a fully electric semi-trailer truck equipped with semi-autonomous technology including enhanced autopilot, automated braking and lane departure warnings. Toronto trucking firm Fortigo Freight joined Loblaws and Walmart Canada in each pre-ordering Tesla semis, the $232,000 electric truck set to be delivered in 2019 that holds the promise of eventually becoming autonomous. Despite his company's investment, Fortigo president Elias Demangos isn't holding his breath for widespread adoption in the next decade. While the vehicles are ideally suited for corridors, such as Canada's busiest route between Montreal and Windsor, Demangos believes drivers will still be needed for short-haul services or to pick up and deliver goods. Estimates on how far away we are from a driverless future vary widely, but completely driverless trucks are already being used far from traffic, on remote resource properties. Suncor Energy is testing them at its oilsands operations in Alberta, while Rio Tinto is expanding their deployment at its iron ore mines in Australia. Rapid advances in technology are "revolutionizing" the way large-scale mining is undertaken around the globe, said Chris Salisbury, head of the mining giant's iron ore division. Transport Minister Marc Garneau travelled in October to Tesla's headquarters in Silicon Valley as part