Driverless trucks and transportation vehicles are no longer the stuff of science fiction. However, there is still no consensus on what is safe and legally allowed, as every state in the country has different regulations.
There are close to 4,400 fully self-driving commercial robotaxis operating across the United States, alongside only a handful of commercial autonomous semi-trucks. At present, there is no overarching federal statute, so every state has its own set of regulations.
Robotaxis and Cybercabs
In some parts of the country, your next cab ride might be missing a driver. Some see this as a safety advantage for the passenger, and a protection for drivers who would otherwise be at risk of an attack or robbery. It also cuts down on the corporate expenses, when there is no driver to be paid.
Waymo operates the largest fleet, running over 500,000 paid rides weekly across 10 major U.S. metropolitan areas. They have a registered fleet that is numbering close to 3,870 vehicles.
Tesla recently added 230 robotaxis to its fleet for a total of 420. They are currently expanding into 12 states.
Zoox (Amazon) offers a unique “carriage-style” urban transit vehicle. They were previously limited to a 100-robotaxi limit in Nevada, which is set to expire in late September 2026, allowing them to scale further.
Self-Driving Commercial Trucks
Over 24 states explicitly permit self-driving commercial trucking operations or testing. The level of legality depends on whether a human safety driver is required. Some states welcome the technology but maintain strict oversight over the heaviest commercial classes.
Long-haul self-driving commercial trucks remain in early-stage commercial deployment with only a small handful of active driverless units operating on designated freight corridors. Fleets are projected to scale toward 25,000 units by 2030.
States with regulations on the books range from allowing fully driverless deployment, mandating a human operator onboard for safety, or requiring other hardware or safety procedures on every vehicle.
Fully Driverless Deployment
The states listed below have frameworks allowing commercial autonomous trucks to operate on public roads with completely empty cabs.
- Texas is the absolute epicenter of autonomous freight. Companies operate active, revenue-generating commercial routes connecting Dallas, Houston, El Paso, Fort Worth, and Phoenix.
- Arizona has a long-standing test and deployment hub. Companies utilize autonomous box trucks here to transport freight for major clients like PepsiCo.
- Florida features incredibly permissive state laws that allow fully autonomous vehicles of all sizes to operate on public roads without a human operator.
- Nevada is one of the earliest pioneers to legalize autonomous commercial operations and a major expanding corridor for autonomous logistics fleets.
- Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan, and Nebraska are permissive states that have established laws enabling driverless commercial operations to scale.
Human Safety Operator Mandates
Many states want to keep a trained human safety operator onboard to take physical control of the wheel if a hazard arises. These jurisdictions do not allow fully driverless vehicles (autonomous systems operating without a human occupant):
- New York requires a licensed human driver to remain physically present behind the wheel during all public road operations and testing. Attempts to expand to fully driverless operations have continually stalled due to safety and labor pushback.
- Kentucky enforces strict human-operator mandates on its public roads.
- Washington, D.C. statutes say that operating vehicles entirely without a driver behind the wheel remains illegal. Companies like Waymo have lobbied city officials to change local statutes to allow driverless taxi deployment.
States with Strict “Hardware” or Testing Restrictions
Some states allow autonomous operations but have drafted targeted laws that effectively restrict certain types of driverless technology:
- New Jersey lawmakers advanced strict legislation requiring all driverless commercial vehicles to carry cameras plus at least two other distinct sensor types (such as LiDAR and radar). This targeted safety rule effectively bans Tesla’s camera-only “Vision” Robotaxis from operating driverless in the state unless they adopt multi-sensor hardware.
- California allows fully driverless cars under strict DMV testing permits. The state has actively restricted heavy driverless semi-trucks, and introduced rules allowing police to ticket the vehicle builders directly for traffic violations to limit unregulated expansion.
The “Gray Area” States (No AV Statutes)
- Massachusetts and roughly 16 other states have no legal statutes or explicit rules referencing autonomous vehicles on their books. In these states, self-driving cars occupy a legal gray area – they are not explicitly banned, but companies cannot launch commercial driverless fleets because there is no regulatory framework to license a computer as an operator.
Strict Regulation and Legal Pushback
As driverless deployment scales, local lawmakers and labor unions are actively pushing back.
Colorado’s governor vetoed legislation in both 2025 and 2026 that would have mandated human operators in all heavy trucks. In response, lawmakers structured a statewide ballot referendum, letting voters decide whether autonomous trucks over 26,000 pounds require a licensed human onboard.
Self-Driving Buses and Shuttles
Self-driving electric buses and micro-transit shuttles are actively operating on public roads, college campuses, and corporate parks across the country.
Most public pilot programs keep a trained human safety operator onboard. For fully driverless versions, vehicles are monitored continuously by remote workers in localized command hubs.
Multiple municipal transit authorities have launched automated, zero-emission shuttle fleets integrated directly into local public transportation networks:
- • Florida - Jacksonville operates a fleet of 14 customized electric Ford E-Transit vans powered by autonomous driving software along a 3.5-mile route.
- • Louisiana - Shreveport deployed 15 autonomous electric buses to handle fare-free public routes.
- • Tennessee - Chattanooga received a $25 million federal grant to overhaul its downtown transit line into a state-of-the-art autonomous bus network. Engineering and vehicle delivery are scheduled to begin in 2027.
Most autonomous shuttles operate as low-speed vehicles, typically capped at 15 to 25 mph. This makes them highly effective for first-mile/last-mile campus transit but too slow for higher speed arterial roads.
The Road Ahead
The country is regulated through a patchwork of permissions, strict testing oversight, or a total lack of autonomous vehicle (AV) legislation. The proposed federal bill SELF DRIVE Act is trying to establish a national regulatory framework that would overwrite state-by-state rules.
Ed and Kelly Burke are respectively Chairman of the Board and Senior Marketing Manager at fuel distributor Dennis K. Burke Inc. They can be reached at 617-884-7800 or ed.burke@burkeoil.com and kelly.burke@burkeoil.com.
