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Senate Transportation committee advances bill to expand Walmart autonomous delivery program after company cites zero accidents in pilot
Summary
House Bill 1562, which would remove a three-vehicle pilot cap and continue state oversight of an autonomous delivery program, was approved by the Senate Transportation committee in a voice vote after Walmart presented company-reported pilot data showing 4,376 trips, more than 82,000 miles and zero accidents.
The Senate Transportation committee on Thursday voted to advance House Bill 1562, a measure to remove a three-vehicle limit on an autonomous delivery-truck pilot and allow the state transportation agency to continue oversight as the program expands.
Sen. Eads, who presented the bill to the committee, said the change would allow the pilot — originally limited to three vehicles in northwest Arkansas — to grow statewide and attract additional businesses to test autonomous delivery operations in Arkansas.
Michael Lindsey, director of public affairs and government relations for Walmart, told the committee the company’s two-year pilot has driven more than 82,000 miles across 4,376 trips with no reported accidents and that the vehicles average roughly 420 miles between operator interventions. "We re up to about 420 miles between the time of between driver engagement," Lindsey said, adding that the company files annual reports with the highway department on system performance.
Lawmakers questioned technical details, safety and liability. Sen. Reiner asked how often a human must intervene; Lindsey said the system operates autonomously and will hand control to a human if the software encounters a situation it cannot resolve. On insurance, Lindsey said autonomous-vehicle operators must maintain commercial liability coverage "just like a commercial truck" and cited federal commercial motor vehicle guidance that the program follows; he referenced a coverage benchmark of $750,000.
Several senators raised workforce and safety concerns. Sen. Hill asked whether a single remote operator could safely manage multiple vehicles at once; Lindsey said Walmart prioritizes safety and that, to his knowledge, there are no current examples of one operator remotely controlling many vehicles in commercial operations. Sen. Pich suggested obscuring vehicle windows so that other motorists would not react to an apparently empty driver's seat.
Supporters said the bill could create new technical and remote-operation jobs even as it shifts driving tasks; critics and some questions focused on how liability, operator workload and oversight would be managed as the program scales. Lindsey told lawmakers the Arkansas Department of Transportation (referred to in the hearing as the highway department and as "RDOT") would be the oversight authority that reviews proposed program changes and safety plans.
The committee adopted a procedural amendment to add Representative Fortner as a cosponsor before voting. Sen. Garner moved to adopt the amendment, Sen. Hill seconded, and the amendment was approved by voice vote. Later, Sen. Eads moved that the committee "do pass" HB 1562; Sen. Hill seconded and the committee approved the bill on a voice vote. The chair said the bill will be scheduled for further consideration.
The committee adjourned after the vote; members were reminded to coordinate on deferred lists and scheduling for the Thursday calendar.
