Once thought of as a distant fantasy, autonomous trucks are moving towards commercial reality on Canadian highways as companies look to boost productivity amid a driver shortage and governments seek to reduce deadly crashes.

The high-stakes lawsuit is linked to Uber's $680-million purchase of self-driving trucking startup OttoMotto.

The city is trying to lay the groundwork so Edmonton can be North America's leader in testing, and developing driverless vehicles. City council's urban planning committee was told the closest achievable market is trucks.