Behind the wheel with automated-driving start-up safety driver Ruben Cardenas

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. Cardenas speaks to his day-to-day on-highway testing of the Plus systems, helping refine system capabilities. The interview with Cardenas was conducted by my colleague over at fleet magazine CCJ, Editor Jason Cannon, for CCJ’s weekly video-centric 10-44 series of talks. Cardenas is no stranger to the owner-operator world, with 11 years of truck ownership in his rearview before he joined up with Plus in his current role in 2018. His long experience begs the question, 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. Hear more from Overdrive Radio: http://overdriveonline.com/overdrive-radio Catch our final episode in the "Over the Road" series coproduction with PRX's Radiotopia, all about the hype around, and reality of, increasingly autonomous driving systems: https://www.overdriveonline.com/overdrive-radio/podcast/15064842/over-the-road-reality-creeps-toward-automated-future Find CCJ's 10-44 series via the magazine's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPNPtn8aKWxAu-_f5e2zVsA3dmo5Yq8P4