Ruben Cardenas is one of the haulers involved with the Plus company, among the scads of tech companies dipping their toes into freight hauling as they work on ever-more-technically-capable advanced driver assist systems. And Plus isn't shy about using marketing terminology like "self-driving" and "autonomous driving" to describe their systems and the end goal.
Cardenas speaks to his day-to-day on-highway testing of the Plus Drive system, helping refine its capabilities, in today's edition of Overdrive Radio. The interview with Cardenas was conducted by my colleague over at Overdrive sister fleet magazine CCJ, Editor Jason Cannon, for CCJ’s weekly video-centric 10-44 series of talks.
[Related: Over-the-road reality creeps toward 'automated future'?]
Cardenas is no stranger to the owner-operator world, with 11 years of truck ownership in his rearview (11 years as a company driver, too) before he joined up with Plus in his current role in 2018. His long experience begs the question I suspect most Overdrive readers want to hear answered, but of course: Why would a career hauler get involved with a company that seems bent on the eventual removal of drivers from the steering wheel, maybe even the seat? It's complicated. Take a listen to hear Cardenas address that very subject:
