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U.S. truck stops are starting to get ready for self-driving trucks. The Wall Street Journal reports that truck stop operator Pilot Flying J is taking an equity stake in automated vehicle startup Kodiak Robotics, the first step in what Pilot says will be a broader plan to outfit its highway stations to greet robot trucks.
The effort will start with a single truck stop in the Atlanta area that could become a model for how Pilot aligns its operations for driverless vehicles. That could include features such as streamlined access to fuel pumps and dedicated spots to handle cargo.
It’s the latest sign of how transportation companies are adjusting parts of their business to new technology hitting the freight sector.
Read more: Driverless Long Hauls, Digital Freight: The Trucking Tech That Can't Come Fast Enough
Experts say they expect self-driving freight vehicles to become widely available before autonomous passenger cars reach the roads because their routes can be more predictable and easily managed.
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