For Daimler, the truck driver of the future looks something like this: He is seated in the cab of a semi, eyes on a tablet and hands resting in his lap.

Daimler demonstrated its vision Thursday along a stretch of the A14 autobahn near Magdeburg in eastern Germany, the culmination of years of innovation. It says the vehicle — called the Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025, a nod to the year the carmaker hopes it will be introduced — is capable of responding to traffic while driving completely autonomously down a freeway at speeds of up to 85 kilometers per hour, or 52 miles per hour.

Click here to read more at The New York Times.

Late Friday, the Overland Park-based less-than-truckload carrier (Nasdaq: YRCW) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced that the union-nominated and the company-approvedDavidson will join YRC's nine-member board.

Davidson will fill the seat Harry Wilsonvacated in March. Wilson, the chairman and CEO of New York-based MAEVA Group LLC, resigned from the board after seeing the company through a financial restructuring in early 2014. Between February 2013 and March 2014, YRC paid MAEVA $12.5 million for its services.

Click here to read more at The Kansas City Business Journal.

The Highway Trust Fund pays for the upkeep of our roads, bridges and public transit. Yet for more than two decades, Congress has failed to increase its funding. The fund hasn't kept up with inflation, let alone the urgent needs for the modernization of our transportation systems. Now a crisis, years in the making, is coming to a head.

Time is running out for Congress to fund the Highway Trust Fund, and hundreds of thousands of jobs are at stake—700,000 jobs to be exact. That’s more than double the number of jobs created last month. To be quite frank, the backbone of our entire economy is at stake.

Click here to read more at the AFL-CIO.

Daimler Trucks debuted its self-driving “Future Truck 2025” during an on-highway test drive on a section of the autobahn near Magdeburg, Germany.

The truck uses the company’s Highway Pilot system to drive completely autonomously at speeds up to 53 mph. The system could be launched in production vehicles as early as 2025 if conditions permit, according to Daimler.

“Autonomous driving will revolutionize road freight transport and create major benefits for everyone involved. With the Future Truck 2025, Daimler Trucks is once again highlighting its pioneering role in innovative technologies and opening up a new era in truck transport.

“We aim to be the No. 1 manufacturer in this market of the future, which we believe will offer solid revenue and earnings potential,” Wolfgang Bernhard, the member of Daimler’s board of management responsible for Daimler trucks and buses, said in a statement.

UPDATED June 26, 2014: YRC Freight has submitted a proposed change of operations to the IBT which would re-open distribution centers in Memphis and Houston, and reclassify Seattle as a distribution center. The change will be heard on July 23, and the company wants implementation on August 17.

One effect of this change would be to allow the use of purchased transportation in and out of these three terminals.

119 dock, switcher, road, mechanic, and office jobs will be affected. Losing terminals will be Dallas, Nashville, Jackson, Miss., Little Rock, and Portland, Oregon. The company is proposing a follow the work bidding process. Memphis retains the “retreat rights” from a previous change.

Click here to read the proposed change of operations.

The accident involving a Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. driver and comedian Tracy Morgan’s entourage has yet another industry organization weighing in about potential hours of service changes.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters sent an open letter to the US House of Representatives saying any steps to “delay, revise or replace the current hours of service 34-hour restart provision” or allow increases in truck size and weight, “especially they size of double trailers from the current 28-ft. to 33-ft.” should be opposed. In particular, the letter cites two potential floor amendments to the Transportation Housing and Urban Development (THUD) FY’15 bill.

Click here to read more at Truck News.

A deadly pileup involving a tractor-trailer early Saturday morning is likely to shine a spotlight on a recent move by the Senate Appropriations Committee to weaken federal truck safety rules.

Details are still emerging about the crash, which killed comedian James "Jimmy Mack" McNair and critically injured actor Tracy Morgan. A truck driver, Kevin Roper, has been charged with death by auto and four counts of assault by auto in connection with the accident.

Click here to read more at The Huffington Post.

June 2, 2014: Road check inspections will be happening all over North America June 3-5. Expect to see federal, state, local or in Canada, provincial inspectors making thousands of “road checks” over the next few days.

Click here to read more.

The newest hire at trucking company YRC Worldwide Inc. is a recruiter whose job is to find drivers.

Chief executive James Welch revealed the hiring Wednesday during an industry panel discussion held in New York by Wolfe Research. He said it was the first time the Overland Park company had put a recruiter for drivers on its payroll.

“We have a lot of applications for drivers, but they can’t pass the drug test. They can’t pass the background checks,” Welch said. “Or they don’t have the mental faculties that you want to put behind an 80,000-pound rig going down the road.”

Click here to read more at The Kansas City Star.