Telsa Wants to Test Self-Driving Class 8 Electric Truck in Two States

Based on emails obtained by Reuters, it appears Tesla's new electric truck will have some autonomous and platooning capabilities. Photo: Tesla

It appears Elon Musk's Tesla electric Class 8 tractor will be designed from the ground up with autonomous platooning capability.

That's the take-away from an email exchange between the Tesla chief executive office and the state of Nevada, as reported by Reuters. Musk is apparently reaching out to Nevada officials in an attempt to get approval for platooning test runs on public highways in the state.

Nevada has been an early leader in state-level pro-autonomous vehicle legislation and policy. The report also indicated Musk will meet with California officials next week to discuss his autonomous vehicle and platooning initiatives.

According to the report, Musk references both autonomous vehicle control and semi-truck platooning in the emails – but there are no specific details as to what level of autonomous control the new Tesla truck will have when unveiled.

Tesla plans to publicly reveal its electric Class 8 truck next month. The exchange between Musk and California and Nevada officials appears to be the first time the Tesla CEO has mentioned autonomous or platooning capabilities in the new truck.

According to Reuters, Nasser Zamani, a regulatory affairs officer at Tesla, wrote to Nevada DMV officials earlier this year, "To insure we are on the same page, our primary goal is the ability to operate our prototype test trucks in a continuous manner across the state line and within the States of Nevada and California in a platooning and/or Autonomous mode without having a person in the vehicle."

No dates for vehicle tests were mentioned in the email exchanges.

Related: Tesla Gets Set to Run with the Big Rigs with Electric Truck

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Real-time routing

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Ryder offers ELD resource guide

Ryder System is offering an eight-page “resource guide” regarding the basics of the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate available for download on its website – a guide that the company said answers some of the most commonly asked questions regarding the mandate, which goes into effect on December 18.

Key points highlighted within the guide include:

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Telsa Seeking to Test Autonomous, Platooning Tech on Public Roadways

Based on emails obtained by Reuters, it appears Tesla's new electric truck will have some autonomous and platooning capabilities. Photo: Tesla

It appears Elon Musk's Tesla electric Class 8 tractor will be designed from the ground up with autonomous platooning capability.

That's the take-away from an email exchange between the Tesla chief executive office and the state of Nevada, as reported by Reuters. Musk is apparently reaching out to Nevada officials in an attempt to get approval for platooning test runs on public highways in the state. Nevada has been an early leader in state-level pro-autonomous vehicle legislation and policy. The report also indicated Musk will meet with California officials next week to discuss his autonomous vehicle and platooning initiatives.

According to the report, Musk references both autonomous vehicle control and semi-truck platooning in the emails – but there are no specific details as to what level of autonomous control the new Tesla truck will have when unveiled. Tesla plans to publicly reveal its electric Class 8 truck next month. The exchange between Musk and California and Nevada officials appears to be the first time the Tesla CEO has mentioned autonomous or platooning capabilities in the new truck.

According to Reuters, Nasser Zamani, a regulatory affairs officer at Tesla, wrote to Nevada DMV officials earlier this year, "To insure we are on the same page, our primary goal is the ability to operate our prototype test trucks in a continuous manner across the state line and within the States of Nevada and California in a platooning and/or Autonomous mode without having a person in the vehicle." No dates for vehicle tests were mentioned in the email exchanges.

Related: Tesla Gets Set to Run with the Big Rigs with Electric Truck

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter

3 ways ELDs Should Help Prevent Driver Coercion

Photo: FMCSA

Drivers, of course, are at the heart of the electronic logging device mandate that kicks in just over four months from now, on December 18. According to Pete Allen, executive vice president of MiX Telematics, which provides ELD solutions, it was concern about how drivers might be impacted by rule change that compelled the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to put “provisions in place to prevent issues of harassment, one of which is driver coercion.”

Allen told HDT that the rule includes these three technical requirements to help protect drivers from being coerced into violating federal hours-of-service regulations:

Unassigned Driving Time: The ELD device must track all miles associated with the vehicle. If any mileage is not assigned to a driver, it is labeled as Unassigned Driving Time.

When drivers log onto an ELD, they must be prompted if the vehicle they are in has any unassigned driving time. If a driver is responsible for any unassigned driving time, he or she must identify it as his or her own, and then the system will automatically update the driver's Record of Duty Status. Managers should also monitor unassigned driving time from their vendor's portal or reports. There may be unassigned driving time that is unaccounted for, and managers will need to remind the specific driver who drove the vehicle at that time to accept the unassigned driving time to remain compliant.

Edits to RODS/HOS: Under the rule, drivers are responsible for their RODS/HOS.

This requirement means the driver has the final say on any changes made to their RODS/HOS. The technical requirements require ELD devices to allow drivers to edit their own HOS logs, and to view and accept or reject any edits made by a manager. At driver log in, the ELD must prompt the driver if any ...Read the rest of this story

Samsara certifies ELD solution with FMCSA

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Meritor Looks to Electrified Future

Electrification will be the next big step for trucking companies, Meritor CEO says from CNBC.

Meritor, in the midst of a three-year push to unveil 20 significant new products as part of its growth strategy, is also looking to a not-so-distant future where electrification will be a major factor in commercial trucks.

Speaking this week on CNBC's "Mad Money," Meritor CEO Jay Craig talked about the company's history, the success of its three-year M2016 turnaround strategy, its current M2019 three-year strategy, and the importance of longer-term strategy.

"Mad Money" host Jim Cramer, who was interviewing Craig to find out more about not only Meritor but also why Class 8 orders are "on fire," pointed out that Meritor recently hired a chief strategy officer. Craig noted that Meritor's “very satisfied” with its M2016 strategy, a three-year plan it wrapped up last year that nearly doubled the profit margin of the company. It's in the midst of its next three-year plan, M2019. “But what I want to see us do is look more long term, make sure we're setting ourselves up for longer-term strategy as well.”

Speaking later more about those longer-term strategies, Craig noted that while there is work being done on autonomous truck technologies, specifically referencing Daimler's 2015 "Inspiration Truck," for Meritor, what's going on in the world of electrification is more significant.

“We have a big push on electrification right now, we think we're establishing a strong position in that marketplace, as we see the trend of commercial vehicles most likely moving where light vehicles are, more highly electrified.”

As HDT's Jack Roberts pointed out in a recent column, there have been a lot of advances in electrification in the past year or so. Much of it has been in Europe, but with the global nature of the truck ...Read the rest of this story