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As the Obamacare reform debate rages on in full force, U.S. Sen. John Thune doesn’t have his sights set entirely on the headline-stealing topics of health care and tax reform. The always busy South Dakota Republican is also eyeing legislation for the growing autonomous vehicle market, or self-driving cars.

The National Tank Truck Carriers has requested that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration grant commercial vehicle drivers who transport petroleum-based fuels a five-year exemption from a federally required 30-minute rest break.

Technology, tax reform and new initiatives to resolve the trucking industry’s persistent labor shortage will be front and center at American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition.

Autonomous vehicles are the wave of a rapidly approaching future that is already bringing increasing amounts of “smart” technology to cars and trucks, and could eventually make passengers of everyone in a vehicle.

The technology that gives cars superpowers to see around corners and through walls won’t be on the first self-driving rides hitting the road in the next few years.

Top automakers and tech companies are warning state officials the current regulations for testing self-driving cars may be too burdensome and could make it too hard or even impossible to test in Massachusetts, a move experts say would delay the economic and safety benefits expected from autonomous vehicles.