Business Analyst

Uline expands in Kenosha County leasing more space in a warehouse that it has used before.

Autonomous truck maker Aurora Innovation Inc. is suing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration after the agency denied its request for a five-year exemption from the placement of roadside warning devices in favor of cab-mounted warning beacons (CMWBs).The filing, submitted Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, argues that the ruling is unlawful, “because it is arbitrary, capricious, [and] an abuse of discretion and otherwise not in accordance with law.”This legal battle is the latest salvo in the ongoing debate between autonomous vehicle makers and the regulatory agencies that oversee them. The exemption was denied in late December. Aurora claims in the court filing that for nearly two years after receiving the company’s application, the FMCSA did not ask any additional questions even after both Aurora and Waymo submitted research confirming the benefits of CMWBs.The crux of the legal issue is whether the CMWBs “achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety that would be achieved absent the exemption.”The current regulations say that if a driver of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) is stopped on the shoulder of a road for any reason other than a necessary traffic stop the driver must activate hazard warning signal flashers and place required warning devices as soon as possible but within no more than 10 minutes at specified locations behind and in front of the CMV.There are also regulations about placement of warning devices based on factors such as light levels and whether the vehicle is obstructed from view – for example, within 500 feet of a curve or the crest of a hill. For autonomous truck makers, this poses a challenge, since no driver is available to comply with the regulations