The U.S. Department of Transportation has released a national strategy for automated vehicles that places commercial truck regulations, safety standards, emergency response and interstate data coordination on the federal agenda through fiscal 2030. America Leads: DOT’s National Strategy for Automated Vehicles, Fiscal Years 2026-2030 expands on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s April 2025 automated vehicle framework. The plan organizes work across USDOT around four objectives: prioritizing safety, providing regulatory certainty, promoting U.S. innovation and facilitating interoperable corridors. The strategy covers motor vehicles operating on public roads and includes passenger and freight applications. USDOT noted that automated driving system-equipped trucks are already hauling commercial cargo on some interstate routes and expects automated and manually driven vehicles to continue sharing public roads as adoption develops. USDOT maintains that existing federal authorities and regulations provide the foundation for overseeing automated vehicles. NHTSA will continue to oversee automated driving systems as motor vehicle equipment, while the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is responsible for the operation and safety oversight of trucks and buses equipped with the technology. State and local governments would retain their traditional roles in licensing, traffic enforcement and rules of the road. USDOT plans to use stakeholder meetings and other coordinating activities to address jurisdictional conflicts and encourage more consistent approaches between states. One of the most consequential elements for trucking is an FMCSA rulemaking focused on automated driving system-equipped commercial motor vehicles. FMCSA is developing proposed changes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations governing commercial vehicle operations, inspections, repairs and maintenance. The rulemaking is intended to distinguish between requirements that remain necessary for automated trucks and those written on the assumption that a human driver is present. The strategy does not provide the specific requirements that would apply to carriers, automated driving system developers or fleet operators. Those