March 17-24: The week in trucking

In this week’s edition of The Week in Trucking, the trucking industry gets an audience with President Donald Trump, drivers may not be needed in California, are robots are set to take over warehousing and FMCSA pulls a controversial safety-focused rule.

If you see something interesting during the week, feel free to share it with us at bstraight@www.freightwaves.com. We may feature it in our Week in Trucking. Enjoy!

Meeting Mr. President

The American Trucking Associations, trucking companies and Road Team Captains visited with President Donald Trump on Thursday to discuss health care and the trucking industry. (Commercial Carrier Journal)

Read: Carrier execs, Road Team drivers meet Trump at White House

VW takes to the cloud for connectivity

Volkswagen Truck and Bus, which has a stake in U.S.-based Navistar, is rolling out a cloud-based platform that will allow vehicle owners to connect with their trucks. The service will also be open to customers and others, creating potential for more shipment visibility. (Wall Street Journal)

Read: VW Truck and Bus profit up on strong Europe, China sales

Drivers need not apply

California regulators have changed the rules on autonomous vehicles. Under the new rules, autonomous vehicles need not have a driver inside the vehicle, nor a steering wheel. (Transport Topics)

Read: California says autonomous vehicles don’t need human drivers