A.J. Jenkins

A.J.

Jenkins was in the driver's seat of the truck, but his only job was to watch what it did and, on this particular drive, explain the truck's decisions to me.

So the truck just slowed down a little bit?

Why was that?

Uh, we had somebody next to us.

The truck gave them room to pull in front of us if they wanted.

Lots of companies are testing tech like this, mostly in Texas, which has lots of long highways and friendly regulations.

Critics, including truckers' unions, have raised questions about the safety and security of this kind of software.

Jenkins, who used to be a driving instructor, says he's confident the tech is going to make roads safer.

Camilla Dominovsky, NPR News.