FMCSA to recruit truck drivers for autonomous vehicle study

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is calling on 100 truck drivers to participate in an experiment using a simulator to evaluate distractions that occur while driving trucks equipped with lower-level autonomous technology.

The research, which will also include a non-simulator training study session, will assess driver readiness when assuming control of a truck with Level 2 (L2) and Level 3 (L3) autonomous driving systems (ADS) and develop a driver-distraction training program, according to a notice to be published in the Federal Register on Wednesday.

The notice is a request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review and approve the study. The public will have 60 days to comment on it.

FMCSA states in the notice that more research is needed on ADS in trucking because so far most are installed in passenger vehicles, with ADS in commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) only recently being used in real-world operations.