Driverless trucking approved in Louisiana

Louisiana will soon allow self-contained tractor-trailers on its public roads, following a bill that Gov. John Bel Edwards signed last month. It is one of the first laws in any state to regulate self-driving commercial motor vehicles, a technology that is expected to shake up the U.S. trucking industry in the next decade.

By law, autonomous trucks are licensed statewide, provided they can follow all federal and state traffic laws, have a minimum liability coverage of $2 million, and are correctly registered. The same restrictions will apply to driverless trucks that are operated remotely.

These rules will come into effect on August 1 — although industry reports suggest that fully self-contained trucks are unlikely to be deployed for commercial purposes for at least eight years.