The US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has granted Aurora, a driverless trucking company, a five-year exemption from the rule that stopped trucks must set out warning triangles or flares, according to its final decision published this month. Level 4 driverless trucks, which drive themselves on set routes with no one aboard, may instead use amber warning beacons mounted on the cab, switched on within five minutes of a qualifying stop.
The exemption runs from 7 October 2026 to 7 October 2031, and other carriers can use it after notifying the agency in writing. It does not cover hazardous materials or passenger transport, and carriers must report crashes within five days. The agency says 34 trucks drove more than 500,000 miles under an earlier temporary waiver between October 2025 and January 2026.
Safety groups and owner-operator associations opposed the request, while trade bodies and several autonomous vehicle companies supported it. The decision replaces a run of short waivers with five years of certainty on a rule written for trucks with a human driver.