Penske Truck Leasing announced it has joined the Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE) coalition. The move is an effort by the company that aligns with its mobility strategies around connected, automated, shared, and electric commercial vehicles.

“Varying levels of automation are already happening in the trucking industry. We’re committed to helping advance a better understanding and separating the hype from realities with our customers and general public when it comes to automated trucks,” said Sherry Sanger, senior vice president of Marketing for Penske Truck Leasing. “Automation takes many forms in trucking, ranging from existing collision-avoidance and lane departure warning systems to other driver-assisted technologies. Advanced driver assistance in trucks and fully automated trucks may one day provide a range of societal and industry benefits including safety, environmental, and productivity when it comes to mobility.”

PAVE is a broad coalition of leading industry, non-profit, and academic institutions launching a first-of-its kind, fact-based campaign to inform the public and policymakers about the potential and the reality of advanced vehicle technologies.

“PAVE members are united by a belief in the power of automated vehicles to improve safety, mobility and sustainability, and also a belief that, to achieve these benefits, we need to make sure everyone has the knowledge to participate in the conversation about the future of transportation,” said PAVE coalition manager Tara Andringa. “We are excited that Penske has joined our coalition working to bring facts and understanding to these important conversations.”

PAVE’s public education campaign includes hands-on public demonstration events; policymaker workshops for stakeholders at the local, state and federal level; educational materials for industry sales personnel and others who work directly with consumers; and active online educational efforts through the PAVEcampaign.org website and social media channels. Through these and other activities, PAVE will seek to bring realistic, factual information to policymakers and the public so consumers and decision-makers understand the technology, its current state and its future potential — including the benefits in safety, mobility and sustainability — without unjustified hype or unreasonable fear.