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354-Automated Freight and Trucking: Launch and Landing 

Date and Time: Wednesday, July 12, 2023: 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Plaza A

Session Moderators and Organizers

MODERATORS
Andrew Krum, Group Leader – Human Factors and Advanced Systems Testing, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute
Joshua Cregger, Technology Policy Analyst, USDOT Volpe Transportation Center
William (Billy) Hwang, Research Scientist, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

ORGANIZERS
Andrew Krum
Joshua Cregger
William (Billy) Hwang

TRB Sponsoring Committees and Partners

Session Description and Agenda

DESCRIPTION

Automated freight movement has garnered a lot of attention as a practical use case with ready demand for automation in simpler operating environments with repeated routes. Automation in freight road transport will take off where it improves efficiency, meaning safe and reliable delivery of more loads on less equipment. This session will explore how light/medium-duty vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, and other vehicle configurations move around roads and sites that cover a range of locations and use cases, including on/off-highway retail, fleet yard, distribution centers, and hubs that involve some challenging interactions with pedestrians and manually operated vehicles both on public roads and at private facilities.

AGENDA

1:30-1:40; Opening: “State of the ADS Industry”; Bishop Consulting - Richard Bishop, Principal, Automated Driving Strategy & Partnerships

1:40-2:40; Panel 1: Interstate Highway Automation Hub Operations

Description: This panel will explore the operations at hubs and yards that ensure safety around staff and vehicles as well as ensure safe and reliable operations on the highways.

Moderator:
• Andrew Krum, Group Leader, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

Panelists:
• Thomas (Tom) Kelly, Program Manager: ADS, Electronic Inspections, & Roadside Safety Technologies, USDOT-FMCSA
• John Sova, Roadside Inspection Specialist, CVSA
• Dan Goff, Head of External Affairs, Kodiak Robotics
• Bruce Botsford, Senior Manager, Terminals and Maintenance, Aurora Innovation
• Srini Gowda, VP of Autonomous Vehicles, Navistar

***10 Minute Break***

2:50-3:50; Panel 2: ADS in Local Goods Movement Applications: Partnerships, Service Models, and Lessons Learned

Description: This panel will discuss private-sector experiences and learnings from middle-mile and last-mile goods movement applications in ADS-equipped vehicles as well as an outlook and future directions for activity in this space.

Moderator:
• Joshua Cregger, Technology Policy Analyst, US DOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

Panelists:
• Manaswini Condoor, Senior Manager, Autonomous Ground Transportation, Walmart
• Carter Stern, Director of Government Relations, Cruise
• Rich Steiner, Head of Policy and Communications, Gatik

***10 Minute Break***

4:00-5:00; Panel 3: Multimodal Freight Automation

Description: This panel will discuss interactions and engagement between states and the private sector in the delivery of infrastructure that will continue the growth of AV freight. Panelists will focus on partnerships between State DOTs and the private sector to plan the multimodal transportation system of the future, which will need to consider the intersection of AV trucks with other automated facilities and modes in the supply chain.

Moderator:
• Billy Hwang, Research Scientist, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Panelists:
• Paul Avery, Technical Specialist Emerging Technologies, Global Transportation Innovation, AECOM
• Jordan Coleman, General Counsel and VP of Policy, Kodiak Robotics
• Eric Fredericks, Freight Policy Manager, California State Transportation Agency
• Zeke Reyna, Emerging Technology Portfolio Project Manager, Texas Department of Transportation

Session Objectives

• Real freight examples will be discussed by freight operators and developers that are deploying driverless operations on public roads among retail, distribution centers, on/off exits near highways; and on private property yards and hubs.
• Panels will discuss the solutions they have found to make deployment successful and the challenges ahead where broad collaboration is needed to deliver at the next level.
• Technical, safety, training and network issues will be discussed across multiple freight operation use cases.