Truckers in Seattle and the rest of UCAS were bitching like hell about these things. The trid reports hadn’t made much impression at the time, but now it all came back to him. It seemed that some of the Native American Nations were experimenting with something the Australians had adopted for long-haul freight shipments through the Outback. Totally automated trucks using autopilots with expert systems and limited artificial intelligence that operated entirely via massive sensor suites mounted on the truck bodies. Blasting through the night without a single living person on board. Running without headlights because the sensors saw better in the dark than a meat driver would under noonday sunlight. Much more dependable, because autopilots didn’t drink or do drugs or chips while on the job; didn’t fall asleep; and—most important—didn’t go on strike for higher wages or better working conditions.