Autonomous trucking has real-world operations today—and the developers have bold plans for commercialization within the next two years. This week, the Fleet Lead's Jeremy Wolfe is hosting interviews with four of the industry's autonomous developers.

Kodiak AI is a public autonomous truck developer with a focus on OEM-agnostic upfitting and edge computing. It achieved some of the first major autonomous milestones in recent years under its partnership with Atlas Energy. Here Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak AI, describes the state of autonomy today and outlines the company's achievements.

Here are the big stories from this week in trucking as of March 5:

• OEMs announced two new vocational trucks
• The Trump administration is changing independent contractor classification
• The Supreme Court is hearing arguments around broker liability
• Torc Robotics is moving autonomous hauls to Michigan
• Bot Auto is working with a broker for Texas hauls
• Diesel prices jumped 9 cents

Jim Mullen is replacing Jim Ward as president of the Truckload Carriers Association in early April. How will Mullen use his deep trucking industry experience—as a former mega-carrier executive, past FMCSA acting administrator, and leader in autonomous trucking and the Clean Freight Coalition—to guide the truckload sector through a massive regulatory shift?

FleetOwner's Josh Fisher sat down with Mullen at TCA's Truckload 2026 to discuss his "360-degree" perspective and his strategy for navigating trucking's new era of enforcement and economic recovery.

Timestamps:

• 0:40 - Industry sentiment
• 4:15 - Career background
• 7:30 - Lobbying and regulatory relations
• 10:30 - Impact of enforcement
• 13:20 - Hours of Service (HOS) pilot
• 16:00 - Clean Freight Coalition's future
• 24:20 - Autonomous technology
• 27:50 - Advice for carriers