Support for and thoughts and prayers for all the victims of the recent hurricanes and most recently of course in the state of florida and our colleague in the Ranking Member on this committee, senator nelson, he and senator rubio are there today as they should be and looking out for the needs of their constituents and so again we certainly want to express our support for them and for the people of florida as they deal with the horrific storm and its aftermath. This committee has been working for some time in a bipartisan fashion to progresses the advancement of Autonomous Vehicles and i want to thank senator peters for partnering with me in this effort. And senator nelson who is unable to join us today. We put a lot of work into this effort to date and i look forward to continuing to work with this colleague to produce and pass bipartisan legislation. We are well positioned to over see and address the emergency of this transformative technology. Beginning last congress weve held two hearings and hosted a demonstration of this technology for commit canny members. Well take a look at the implication and technology for larger vehicles. Au ought mated Vehicle Technology expanding mobility, reducing Traffic Congestion and increasing productivity among other benefits. But the most exciting aspect is the potential to save thousands of lives every year on our nations highways. More than 35,000 people died in major vehicle crashes in the United States. With more than 90 attribiatable to human error, Automated Vehicless have a chance to reduce these numbers dramatically. Too many lives are lost on our roads and i look forward to hearing how ought mated vehicles including trucks can help. They keep our economy moving. Its important as we seek to improve safety and it puts our economy on a level Playing Field as other companies around the world deploy freight trucks. At 2017 Energy InformationAdministration Study projected that automated trucks could yield fuel savings between 6. 7 and 18. 6 improving our economic competitiveness and supporting job growth. Im glad that mr. Spear has joined us today to speak to us about the role of automated trucks and innovation. Comp aec companies have explored the potential benefit. Companies like tesla, uber, and bart and others have invested in automated truck technology. Some pursuing automalted technologies in trucks. Chief of the Colorado State patrol has seen this Technology First hand. Last year he participated in the test of auto which drove 120 miles in colorado. As other countries devote significant attention and effort to stimulating innovation in this area, strong federal leadership will be necessary to maintain our position as Global Leader and maintain that these vehicles are tested and deployed safety. Secretary chow announced it has updated its guidance on Automated Vehicles. Dots new guidance improves and takes the same position regarding all Motor Vehicles, both cars and trucks under the same Regulatory Framework and though their approaches differ, states have passed automated legislation similarly cover all cars, Motor Vehicles and trucks. Cohesively without leaving out certain vehicle classes. Of course its important to consider all impacts of this new technology. Its crucial we hear about the potential impact on jobs and engage in a discussion of how best to prepare for the future. So im glad mr. Hall was able to join us today. They are the backbone of the economy. Technological advancements have a potential to effect them in very different ways includinging positive ways. It should make a drivers life easier and safer. Automation will bring many benefits and challenges. As former president johnson said during his term and i quote automation is not our enemy. Automation can be the ally of our prosperity if we will just look ahead, if we will understand what is to come and if we will set our course wisely after proper planning for the future end quote. Im glad were continuing that discussion today. I look forward to hearing from all our witnesses and i now want to turn to senator peters for his opening statement. Thank you mr. Chairman and thank you for calling this very important hearing. As the chairman mentioned, im in this seat today because senator nelson is back home in the great state of florida, helping to begin the long recovery effort after the devastating Hurricane Irma and our thoughts and prayers are with senator nelson as well as all of the people of the state of florida last friday he and i released a discussion draft of our selfdriving car legislation which is a result kof countless meetings of stake holders and further bipartisan work from senator nelson. I want to thank them for the many long efforts to go into this draft. Targeted at ushering in a new era. The bill will facilitate the Safe Development and adoption reduce existing regulatory barriers and establish a new Regulatory Framework to support this innovation Going Forward. Importantly it will insure that the United States leads the International Race to deploy these new technologies. We must develop and build them here in our country, creating a new 21st century manufacturing jobs as well. For the remainder of this month we will work diligently to resolve and finalize the outstanding issues in this draft legislation, including the topic of todays hearing. Whether highly automated trucks and buses should be part of this particular legislation or addressed in some future piece of legislation. I will note that while gathering feedback on my draft legislation, many stake holders were clear that prospect of selfdriv selfdriving trucks raise as very different set of issues from selfdriving cars and ultimately the same stake holders express serious concerns with including selfdriving trucks without a more robust discussion and evaluation of their impact by industry, academia and government. I will also note that our draft legislation was informed by two Commerce Committee hearings in march 2016 and june 2017 and two iterations of the federal Automated Vehicle policy, all of which were focussed on highly automated lightweight passenger cars, not trucks. And finally i will note that the house recently passed its selfdriving vehicle legislation unanimously without the inclusion of selfdriving trucks weighing over 10,000 or 1,000 pounds. Its critically importedant to our day to day consumer needs. Employing more than 3 million americans as Truck Drivers. The same can be said of the bus industry which provides importedant Transportation Options and creates thousands of jobs. Major changes to these industries brought on by high levels of automation will have major impaktsz ct on jobs, transportation, and the economy, not to mention roadway safety and we need to make sure when we do establish a Regulatory Framework for selfdriving trucks we get it right after having gone over all the implications. What is for example, what is the Trucking Industrys timeline for deployment of highly automated trucks . Will they deploy level four or five or stick to lower levels of automati automation . What standard will they need exemptions from . Will the unique particularly for safety and Cyber Security issues. How will changes to the Vehicle Safety standards operate enforce and should we be considering those impacts now . What are the job impact pakts of highly automated trucks and what are the industrys plan for retaining or reassigning the drivers who are in danger of losing their jobs . But in our discussions to date we have not as clear an understanding on selfdriving trucks as we have during our countless discussions on selfdriving cars. Im of the mind selfdriving trucks are not right for inclusion in this bill. Improving safety on our highways is critically important to me. Its one of the reasons its so important to me as well. But i also recognize in the long term self driving trucks and buss are bus s are intended to improve safety on our highways and excluding self driving trucks, i question assertions that excluding selfdriving trucks from this particular bill will result in less safe roads and that they dont merit special considerations Going Forward. We shall not allow such premature conclusions to stand in this committees way of talking specifics and getting the answers we need have a more complete understanding of the safety, work force and policy i implications of highly automated trucks. I want to thank all of our witnesses for being here today and start this very important conversation and i look forward to the testimony. Well move now to our panel. We welcome you and look forward obviously to hearing from you. We would ask if you can confine your oral remarks to as close to 5 minutes as possible. Your entire statement will be included as part of the record. Well start on my left and your right with colonel scott hernandez. Whos chief of Colorado State patrol. Well move then to mr. Troy clark. Ms. Deborah hearseman who is the president and chief executive officer of the National Safety counsel. Chris spear, chief executive officer of the trucking administration. And hull, a treasurer of the International Brother hood of teamsters. If you would proceed. Absolutely. Good morning. Good morning, chairman thon and members of the committee. Thank you for holding this important hearing and inhadviting me here today to discuss the role Automated Vehicles will play in the future and how they may improve safety on our nations highways. Im the colonel of the Colorado State patrol and pleased to lead members whose primary job is to save lives on our highways. 10 people have been killed on colorado roadways this year. Were committed to reducing the number of People Killed eventually to zero. The Enforcement Community is excited to about the potential improvements to roadway saift possible with the deployment of Autonomous Vehicles. Our goal is to reduce fatalities and injuries on our nations highways and we know Automated Technology has already saved lives through the elimination of human error such as distracted driving and other unsafe driving habits. Cbsa, which every state is a member works to improve uniformity by bringing truck and bus regulatory Safety Agencies together with industry representatives to solve highway transportation problems. Recognizing the tremendous potential benefits, weve long encouraged the deployment of Safety Technologies proven through the independent research to improve safety. Even through preventing crashes, Autonomous Vehicles are the natural next progression in Vehicle Safety technology and Enforcement Community stands ready to assist in making sure that these technologies are deployed as seamlessly and as effect effectively as possible. In the late summer of 2016 auto approached the state of colorado expressing an interest in a interstate delivery in a Autonomous Vehicle. With the fact that there are no laws or regulations prohibiting them too, include this scenario in colorado, we chose to partner with otto to insure safety remained paramount. And understood the government to learn from the process to participate in reasonable regulations in the future. During the Early Morning hours of october 20th, 2016, an Autonomous Vehicle delivered from fort collins, colorado to Colorado Springs in a level 4 autonomous demonstration. Soon after entering southbound i 25, the driver placed the vehicle in autonomous mode and retreated to the space behind the driver passenger seat and travelled southbound for over 120 miles until the driver took over the controls and exited towards the terminal. It highlighted the future possibilities and use of autonomous commercial vehicles. The Colorado Department of transportation took extensive measures to reduce the risk associated with this demonstration. We used californias Autonomous Vehicle laws and rules as guidance. Preevent testing was monitored for assisting and achievement through specific safety performance gates to extensive onroad testing. It was deemed to be without a violation and the company underwent a safety audit to insure it had had appropriate level of Safety Management practices in place to safely operate in commerce. The state patrol received detailed weekly briefings on performance through required safety and testing protocols including testing of scenario plans for risk and fall back. In an effort to insure it was completed in a safe manner, they escorted in a similar fashion in a motorcade or rolling special event, specifically monitoring safety calls and situational assessment. While we will still need to work towards total solutions, they made progress in understanding other governmental agencies, Autonomous Vehicle crash investigations, why cyber sku d security will be essential as this technology progresses. How they plan advancing the progress of procedures, understanding the development of a unique Regulatory Framework and how to better partner with are and when operated during the right loeksz, time and situation could reduce crash risk and Traffic Congestion. Additionally the demonstration has provided Important Information and experience to the state patrol and our partners responsible for establishing the necessary legal and Regulatory Framework. Clearly technological advances in the past have saved lives and clearly technology will continue to save lives in the future. Our experience in colorado makes it clear that its time to begin planning in earnest. As this Committee Moves forward with legislation setting the National Framework to guide the Autonomous Vehicles, we believe consideration must be given to cmb industry. We all have many question that need to be addressed as we work towards deployment of these technologies. Many questions need to be answered before Autonomous Vehicles can be allowed to enter are the population. That is the purpose of these questions the purpicist not to slow innovation or create road blocks to the technology. The Enforcement Community recognizes the safety benefits and welcomes any change to roadway safety. We must insure they understand the role of this technology and how it will impact cmb enforcement programs. We strongly encourage you to seek all facets, including what to do when vehicles are on the road. Doing so will help avoid uncertainty for the Enforcement Community. I appreciate this opportunity to participate and the timely discussion on ought mated vehicles. Thank you very much. Mr. Clark. Good morning. I am honored to be here this morning to discuss an important topic in our drooerks autonomous applications in commercial trucks. Im chairman j chief executive officer of the manufacture of interNational Trucks, diesel engines and military vehicles. Its located Just Outside Chicago and has over 12,000 employees world wide. Id tlielk plike to provide a qr view. Our is as small, highly Competitive Industry which expects to produce around 25,000 vehicles this year. A small portion. Our customers range from large fleets like j. B. Hunt and penske with thousands of vehicles operating only one truck. We built trucks and buses via mass customization. Each one taylored to meet the specific needs of a customer. Reliability and up front cost all impact future decisions. And a new truck ranges in price. In other words they represent major Capitol Investments and only generate revenue for our customers when theyre up and running. Our kismers invest in the latest Safety Technology to protect their assets as well as their most important human driver. Theyve been the creasing every year. We call these advance Driver Assistance systems, or a. D. A. S. And they offer Quantum Leaps in safety and environmental benefits. Many serve as the Building Blocks to greater automation. They say see it a