Newsom Vetoes Bill Requiring Human Safety Operators Inside Autonomous Trucks

A quarter-million jobs in the state could be affected by allowing autonomous trucks, according to estimates by the California Labor Federation.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks as he attends the Climate Ambition Summit at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, on Sept. 20, 2023. The event, held during Climate Week NYC and the UN General Assembly, seeks to gather support for global agreements aimed at phasing out the use of fossil fuels. Kena Betancur/Getty Images

California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have banned self-driving trucks on roads without a human presence, drawing criticism from labor unions concerned about potential job losses.

Assembly Bill 316 prohibits the operation of autonomous vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds on public roads without a human safety operator physically present inside the vehicle. After lawmakers approved the legislation, it went to the Democrat governor to sign it into law. He vetoed the bill on Sept. 22.

“Assembly Bill 316 is unnecessary for the regulation and oversight of heavy-duty autonomous vehicle technology in California, as existing law provides sufficient authority to create the appropriate regulatory framework,” the office of the governor said in the veto message (pdf).

The message pointed out that the state Legislature provided the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) with the authority to regulate the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles on public roads in 2012.

“DMV continuously monitors the testing and operations of autonomous vehicles on California roads and has the authority to suspend or revoke permits as necessary to protect the public’s safety.”

The new bill was opposed by businesses that claim that self-driving trucks would help more efficiently transport products, while labor unions said that autonomous trucks threaten jobs.

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, the leader of the California Labor Federation, criticized Mr. Newsom’s veto of a “bipartisan, common-sense bill,” calling the decision “shocking.”

“Removing drivers will cost ... upwards of a quarter million working Californians their jobs and livelihoods,” she said in a statement.

“We will not sit by as bureaucrats side with tech companies, trading our safety and jobs for increased corporate profits. We will continue to fight to make sure that robots do not replace human drivers and that technology is not used to destroy good jobs.”

Jeff Farrah, executive director for the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, welcomed the veto.

“We commend Governor Newsom for vetoing AB 316. As a result, California’s safety experts can continue to evaluate autonomous vehicle technology and consider appropriate regulatory action,” he said in a Sept. 22 statement.

Potential Loss of Autonomous Vehicle Firms

Mr. Newsom faced pressure from within his administration not to sign the bill. The Office of Business and Economic Development warned that signing Assembly Bill 316 could make companies involved in self-driving technologies shift away from California.

A truck pulls a car carrier trailer as cars, SUVs, and other vehicles drive in traffic on the 405 freeway through the Sepulveda Pass in Los Angeles on Aug. 25, 2022. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

“A.B. 316 addresses autonomous trucking in a vacuum,” Dee Dee Myers, director of the Office of Business and Economic Development, said in an Aug. 15 letter to lawmakers.

“The bill fails to recognize that the federal government and nearly a dozen other states are moving forward with this technology. And many of those states are actively positioning themselves to lure away California-based companies and the investments and jobs they bring.”

Autonomous trucks aren’t yet operational on California’s roads. Assembly Bill 316 not only banned the use of such trucks without the presence of a human safety operator for transportation, but also banned the use of the vehicles for “testing purposes.” It’s unclear when California might permit their testing on public roads.

The Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association insists Assembly Bill 316 would have imposed a “permanent ban” on autonomous trucks in California and put the creation of new, high-quality jobs in jeopardy.

Jobs Under Threat

Mr. Newsom’s veto of Assembly Bill 316 comes as hundreds of truck drivers and several union leaders rallied at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Sept. 19, voicing support for the bill. Semi-trucks were lined in a street in front of the Capitol, with drivers chanting “sign that bill.”

Semi-trucks line up near Pier J to retrieve shipping containers from a China-based ship at the Port of Long Beach, in Long Beach, Calif., on April 4, 2018. Bob Riha Jr./Reuters

Sean M. O’Brien, the general president of the Teamsters Union, criticized Mr. Newsom after the veto. “@GavinNewsom doesn’t have the guts to face working people. He’d rather give our jobs away in the dead of night,” he said in a Sept. 23 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“95 percent bipartisan support in the legislature and 75 percent public support, but Newsom still killed it. He’s giving a green light to put these dangerous rigs on the road,” he said.

“Any politician who turns their back on workers to curry campaign contributions from Corporate America and Big Tech better square up. @Teamsters will not walk away from this fight.”

A March 2022 study of how automated long-haul trucking could affect the United States found that up to 94 percent of operator hours “may be impacted” by the technology.

“Our results on the share of operator-hours at risk from automation would therefore mean that anywhere from 30,000 to >500,000 jobs may be impacted,” the authors wrote.

A 2018 study found that “automation could replace most non-specialized long-distance drivers—about 83,000 of the best trucking jobs and 211,000 jobs with moderate wages but high turnover rates and poor working conditions.”

The report said that even if new jobs would be created in the place of lost ones, these jobs will likely involve local driving and last-mile delivery jobs, which tend to have lower wages.

“Trucking is an extremely competitive sector in which workers often end up absorbing the costs of transitions and inefficiencies,“ it reads. ”Strong policy leadership is needed to ensure that the benefits of innovation in the industry are shared broadly between technology companies, trucking companies, drivers, and communities.”