Autonomous Fleet Driving: The Future of Fleet Management.

That is the hope. However, just as with every other emerging technology there are anticipated downsides to increasing the number of autonomous vehicles in any given fleet. Some of the negatives that experts anticipate with this trend towards automation include:

• Higher Acquisition Cost: Acquiring autonomous vehicles and adding them to a company’s fleet will initially be expensive. For example, an IHS Automotive forecasts predicts that the price for self-driving technology will add between $7,000 and $10,000 to a car’s sticker price in 2025. Fleets that integrate this technology will experience an even higher initial cost.
• Potential negative effect on local governments – Since autonomous vehicles are designed to strictly adhere to the speed limit and other traffic regulations it is difficult to know how this will affect local government’s efforts to collect taxes from fines.
• Increases/Changes in Governmental Regulation - With the trend towards autonomous vehicles increasing, government will have to craft a whole new set of regulations related to trucking and commerce. There is no way to anticipate how these changes will impact trucking companies.

Yes, it is difficult not to sit and marvel at things such as Google and Tesla’s efforts at autonomously piloted cars. However, for people who ship items back and forwards across this land take a more measured approach to the implications of this autonomy. Business leaders must consider the above factors and law-makers have to consider the impact autonomously piloted may have on legislation. Ultimately, it is a matter of when and not if major companies will add autonomous vehicles to their fleet.