Self-Driving Trucks May Be Closer Than They Appear<br />From there the truck drives itself for 650 highway miles (with a safety driver in tow) to Ontario, Calif., where the Embark drivers<br />transfer their trailer to another Ryder driver, who drives the final few miles to one of Electrolux’s California warehouses.<br />Stefan Seltz-Axmacher, Starsky’s 27-year-old chief executive, foresees using self-driving technology to replace long-haul drivers on freeways,<br />but having people like Mr. Runions navigate at either end of the trip with remote control consoles that look like an arcade racing game.<br />“Sometimes it kind of messes me up when I go back to driving because now I’m used to the truck driving,” Mr. Runions said.<br />Autonomous technology will help trucking companies reduce labor costs in the long run, first by extending<br />the number of hours trucks are in operation, and later, by reducing the number of drivers.
