Hundreds of truckers speak out against driverless truck exemption The autonomous trucking industry seeks an exemption that could pave the way for thousands of driverless trucks to hit the roads over the next five years. However, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and hundreds of individual truckers are telling federal regulators to reject the request. Aurora Operations wants the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 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. 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!” As of press time in early May, FMCSA had received nearly 300 comments about Aurora’s request. Many of the comments came from truck drivers telling the agency that the exemption would be bad for safety. “Granting an exemption for external warning devices would be dangerous for other road users,” Marlena Ross wrote. “There is no plan for warning drivers when broken down close to a curve in the road. Other drivers will not be given adequate warning, even when the equipment is fully functioning. That is not a suitable replacement for triangles or flares, because it does not cover all the required scenarios. Exemptions for safety equipment should not be for convenience and should involve a comprehensive alternative.” Others said that there is no alternative to a well-trained