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A look at the on-course and off-course action during the 2018 North Dakota Truck Driving Championships, hosted by the North Dakota Motor Carriers Association, June 2, 2018, in Fargo.

In an abandoned lot on the outskirts of Sacramento, Calif., R1, a domed gray vehicle half the size of a Toyota Corolla, is practicing driving itself. It stops at stop signs, yields to people, and handles sharp turns, as other self-driving vehicles do on test courses in Silicon Valley, Detroit, and China.

Photo coverage of winners and scenes from the 2018 Alabama Truck Driving Championships June 1 in Pelham, Ala. (Photos courtesy of the Alabama Trucking Association)

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Terry Wood, the Walmart driver who was recently crowned Pennsylvania’s truck driving champion, said the secret to success can be distilled into two basic habits — study and practice.

The U.S. trucking industry is continuing to adjust to the federal electronic logging device mandate that took effect late last year.

“Class-action lawsuits are like the plague. Every business owner hopes they pass by their company’s door,” Angela Cash, an attorney with Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary, said at the 2018 Scopelitis Law Seminar.

General Motors Co. and Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo rocked the auto industry last week with self-driving deals that will have each deploying thousands of robo-taxis onto U.S. roads over the next 18 months. Ford Motor Co., meanwhile, will continue biding its time.

As truck makers and technology developers work toward introducing vehicles with some level of automated driving features in the years ahead, it will be essential for drivers to have a clear understanding of what those systems can and cannot do and how much they can rely on them.