California Teamsters sue state over self-driving trucks, citing 400,000 jobs at risk

The California Teamsters union has filed a lawsuit against several state agencies, including the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), over regulations governing autonomous trucks. According to Politico, the organization alleges that Governor Gavin Newsom's administration improperly introduced a series of rules that are likely to bring robot trucks onto state roads.

The legal action stems from a DMV decision in April to adopt new regulations for autonomous vehicles. California had previously banned large self-driving trucks, largely due to union objections over potential job losses. The new rules establish a testing framework for both light-duty and heavy-duty autonomous trucks, which could eventually lead to fleets of self-driving semis and similar vehicles on highways.

The lawsuit argues that these regulations pose "an existential threat" to hundreds of thousands of workers. The Teamsters are asking the court to block the DMV from enforcing the rules and to declare that they were implemented incorrectly. The suit also claims the DMV failed to conduct a required economic study of the regulations' potential impact and used an abbreviated rulemaking process to bypass hurdles.

"The DMV irresponsibly, carelessly, and unlawfully kept the public in the dark about the true economic and human costs of the amended Autonomous Vehicle regulations," said Julie Gutman Dickinson, an attorney representing the Teamsters. She added that the only way to protect the public's right to properly scrutinize regulations that will transform transportation in California is for the court to order the DMV to immediately rescind the illegally enacted rules.

Regarding employment, the lawsuit suggests these rules could "eventually wipe out the jobs of more than 200,000 employee semi-truck drivers working across California." This could also impact a similar number of self-employed drivers, totaling 400,000 or more jobs. California currently leads the nation in employed truck drivers.

On the other hand, the U.S. autonomous trucking market is projected to reach $18 billion by 2030, according to several estimates. The suit notes the industry is poised to hit this threshold "with the California jewel in its sight." The state transportation agency is also named as a defendant in the case.