California Governor Vetoes State Senate’s Autonomous Trucking Ban

The future of autonomous, driverless trucking in California might still see the light of day despite bipartisan calls for the sector to leave America’s most populous state.

On Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation that would have banned heavy-duty driverless trucks in the state.

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The veto came less than two weeks after the California Senate passed Assembly Bill 316 (AB316), a measure requiring a trained human safety operator to be present any time a self-driving vehicle weighing over 10,000 pounds operates on state public roads. The bill passed the Senate floor with a 36-2 vote in favor of a ban.

California currently requires autonomous trucks above the 10,000-pound weight limit to have human safety drivers. Newsom’s signature would have made safety monitors permanent.

“Assembly Bill 316 is unnecessary for the regulation and oversight of heavy-duty autonomous vehicle (AV) technology in California, as existing law provides sufficient authority to create the appropriate regulatory framework,” Newsom wrote in a letter to the California State Assembly.

AB316 advocates argue that having more control over the removal of safety drivers from autonomous trucks would protect California drivers and ensure job security for truck drivers.

In California, legislators can override a governor’s veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers, but that hasn’t happened since 1979.

One of the most prominent backers of an autonomous trucking ban is the Teamsters, the 1.2-million-member union that recently secured a new contract for 340,000 UPS workers and whose threatened strike against Yellow helped catalyze the trucking giant’s bankruptcy and shutdown.

Citing survey data from public policy research firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (FM3), the Teamsters said that as of August, 73 percent of voters supported legislation requiring human safety operators on AVs weighing over 10,000 pounds.

Ahead of the veto, union members, elected state officials and public safety officials marched to the State Capitol on Tuesday urging Newsom to sign the bill.

“If Gov. Newsom chooses to not do the right thing, he is sending a message to California and every state in this country that technology should overrule middle-class jobs,” said Teamsters general president Sean M. O’Brien in a statement.

The Teamsters and others bill backers argue that autonomous vehicles would eliminate jobs. This rhetoric echoes a common refrain when automation comes up in the discussion around supply chains, including warehouses and ports. One such unionized trucking company, less-than-truckload (LTL) firm, TForce Freight, recently ratified a new contract preventing it from using “any robots, driverless vehicles, drones or other technology to move freight or replace drivers, clerks or dockworkers.”

As part of the veto, Newsom directed the state’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency to review and develop recommendations by 2024 to mitigate the potential employment impact of testing and deployment of autonomous heavy-duty vehicles.

Opponents of AB316 have pointed to data from the Institute for Safer Trucking citing 5,788 truck crash fatalities in 2021, a 47 percent increase over 10 years. They compare that to the zero reported fatalities caused by AV trucks in more than two years of reporting and millions of miles driven on public roads. The caveat is that the driverless vehicles had a human safety operator behind the wheel.

The Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association (AVIA), which led opposition to the bill, celebrated the veto.

“We commend Governor Newsom for vetoing AB316. As a result, California’s safety experts can continue to evaluate autonomous vehicle technology and consider appropriate regulatory action,” said Jeff Farrah, executive director for the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, in a statement.

AVIA indicated that the bill would end up diverting resources away from agencies with the expertise to regulate autonomous trucks.

AB316 was introduced in January by California Assemblymembers Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Laura Friedman, Tom Lackey and Ash Kalra.

“I am alive because of a truck driver. I know the value of this very critical bill, and I’ve been with you from the very beginning. We’re not against technology—we want balance,” said Lackey at the rally. “We don’t want AI to stand for accident investigation. Gov. Newsom, please do not let the support of technology stand in the way of people and public safety. Please don’t ignore the voice of the Teamsters.”

AB316’s language would have stopped the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) from issuing testing and deployment permits to autonomous truck companies.

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