WASHINGTON, D.C. – A growing number of truck drivers are joking that recent regulatory language “reads suspiciously robotic,” sparking online chatter about whether artificial intelligence could soon be drafting transportation policy.
The speculation began on trucking forums after several drivers noticed unusually complex phrasing in a recent federal notice. While there’s no evidence that the FMCSA uses AI for rulemaking, drivers say the tone feels more mechanical than usual.
“I’m not saying a robot wrote it,” said Rick Danner, an owner-operator from Tennessee. “But if it did, I’d at least like to know which brand of software to blame.”
Others joined in on social media, posting memes suggesting the nation’s next Hours of Service revision might include lines like ‘Error 404: Flexibility Not Found.’ Some even claimed, tongue-in-cheek, that an algorithm named “RuleBot-9000” was secretly running the show.
Transportation analysts say such jokes reflect growing unease about automation in the industry. “Drivers spend their days fighting GPS glitches and ELD errors,” explained Dr. Karen Patel, a logistics researcher. “So when a new rule drops that sounds overly technical, their first instinct is: yep, another machine’s fault.”
When asked whether AI played any role in the agency’s drafting process, an FMCSA spokesperson declined to comment but emphasized that “federal regulations undergo extensive human review.”
For most drivers, it’s less a conspiracy than a coping mechanism. “Look, if it wasn’t written by a robot, fine,” said Danner. “But someone still needs to translate it back into English for the rest of us.”
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