Driverless Trucks Can Save Lives on American Roads: Thomas Black

One day recently I met Apeksha Kumavat, chief engineer of the driverless-truck startup Gatik Inc., in the parking lot of a large retailer in Denison, Texas, about an hour north of Dallas, where one of the company’s delivery trucks had just dropped off PepsiCo Inc. merchandise. Kumavat jumped in the cab and settled in the middle of the bench seat. I hoisted myself up in the passenger seat. No one sat behind the wheel.

With us buckled up and the 30-foot box truck in autonomous mode, it lurched forward to the end of the street and then waited. When traffic ...