Werner backs autonomous trucks, but economic and liability hurdles remain

Dive Brief: Werner Enterprises is working with several autonomous trucking developers and brokering freight to them, CFO Christopher Wikoff said at Morgan Stanley’s Laguna Conference Sept. 15.

Dive Insight: Werner has long positioned itself as an early adopter of autonomous technology.

It also began working with Kodiak AI in 2022 to create an autonomous trucking lane.

Werner remains uncertain about how soon, and at what scale autonomous trucks can be deployed in its operations.

Once those questions are resolved, Werner sees autonomous as a way to add capacity rather than replace its workforce, Wikoff said.