{"id":102557,"date":"2025-02-08T15:26:51","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T07:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/version-2.com\/?p=102557"},"modified":"2025-03-24T12:44:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T04:44:53","slug":"how-does-ul-4600-keep-autonomous-trucking-systems-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/version-2.com\/zh\/2025\/02\/how-does-ul-4600-keep-autonomous-trucking-systems-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does UL 4600 Keep Autonomous Trucking Systems Safe?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The third edition of UL 4600 was released in 2023 to add specific requirements for the use case of autonomous trucking and to address changing industry trends.<\/p>

Here, we explain what’s happening in the autonomous trucking industry, why UL 4600 is important for autonomous trucking specifically, and how static analysis helps to overcome challenges for this evolving technology.<\/p>

Read on or jump ahead to the section that interests you most:<\/p>

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While some just dream of fleets of autonomous trucks efficiently delivering goods across the country, others are already at work to ensure they can do so safely and resiliently. With the update to ANSI\/UL 4600, the Standards for Safety for the Evaluation of Autonomous Products<\/a>, Edition 3, in play, embedded software teams now have better safety guidance just as self-driving technology is ramping up to make shipping faster, more cost-effective, and more efficient in the face of driver shortages and rising transportation costs.<\/p>

Autonomous trucking software is on the cusp of widespread adoption. To prepare for the inevitable transition from closed-course testing to widespread deployment, OEMs need to understand the current state of trucking automation and how to effectively implement software safety practices.<\/p>

What Is Autonomous Trucking?<\/h2>

Autonomous or driverless trucks operate with minimal to no human input. Instead, autonomous trucks or autonomous tractor-trailers rely on sensors \u2014 usually combinations of cameras, LiDAR, and radar \u2014 to feed environmental data into algorithms and actuators that control the vehicle.<\/p><\/blockquote>

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)<\/a> have defined levels of driving automation<\/a> that are adopted across the industry, which range from Level 0 (completely manual) to Level 5 (completely autonomous). While the lower levels with an automated driving system (ADAS)<\/a> are already in play for autonomous trucks, software development teams will need to ensure functional safety for the higher autonomy levels, ideally Levels 4 (High Automation) and 5 (Full Automation) for the freight industry to benefit from autonomous trucking.<\/p>

Autonomous Trucking Development Today<\/h2>

Trucking is the dominant mode of inland freight transportation in many countries, with several trucking companies competing to be the first to operationalize autonomous driving. Driverless technologies offer significant potential value for fleet operators: They can reduce operating costs, overcome driver shortages, and improve efficiency.<\/p>

For example, driverless semi trucks (or lorries) can employ truck platooning<\/a> more effectively than human drivers, where vehicles follow each other at the same speed to improve fuel economy and reduce their impact on traffic.<\/p>

While there have been a few setbacks in recent years \u2014 for example, TuSimple, Navistar and UPS shut down their “Driver-out” self-driving truck system in 2023 and Waymo, Embark and Locomation are no longer actively developing autonomous trucks<\/a> \u2014 there are many more new entrants working toward wide-scale deployment:<\/p>