{"id":15239,"date":"2018-04-08T13:53:17","date_gmt":"2018-04-08T21:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/a-career-trucker-helps-to-steer-the-path-for-self-driving-trucks\/"},"modified":"2018-04-08T13:53:17","modified_gmt":"2018-04-08T21:53:17","slug":"a-career-trucker-helps-to-steer-the-path-for-self-driving-trucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/a-career-trucker-helps-to-steer-the-path-for-self-driving-trucks\/","title":{"rendered":"A Career Trucker Helps To Steer The Path For Self-Driving Trucks"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Safety driver Jeff Runions with one of Starsky Robotics’ autonomous testing trucks.<\/p>\n

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Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi\/NPR<\/p>\n

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Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi\/NPR<\/p>\n

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When Jeff Runions started his trucking career nearly 40 years ago, he had high hopes for what the job might bring.<\/p>\n

“I wanted the American dream.”<\/p>\n

Since then he’s seen the industry from every step of the ladder \u2014 as an independent owner-operator, a full-time company driver, a parts manager, and finally a trucking depot manager.<\/p>\n

In his latest job developing autonomous trucks, Runions, 58, has a front row seat to what many see as the future of the 700 billion dollar trucking industry. He’s found himself in the middle of a heated race between Silicon Valley juggernauts like Uber and Google<\/a> to get their self-driving trucks out onto the road first. <\/p>\n

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