JAKARTA - Waymo, Alphabet Inc's autonomous car technology unit Waymo, and truck fleet operator CH Robinson Worldwide Inc, entered into a deal on Wednesday, February 16. The two will team up to test an automated truck with a safety driver behind the wheel, in Texas, in the coming months.
"This partnership will enable CH Robinson to be one of the early adopters of Waymo's automated truck technology when it is finally deployed," said Chris O'Brien, Chief Commercial Officer of CH Robinson, as quoted by Reuters.
O'Brien said the development of autonomous long-haul trucks would provide relief for the US truck fleet struggling with carrying capacity restrictions. They also experienced a chronic shortage of drivers, even before the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the situation.
A number of self-driving companies are scrambling to forge partnerships with truck makers, truck operators and customers, to accelerate the race to put automated trucks on the road.
Long-haul trucks should be easier to automate than robotaxis because major highways are a less challenging environment than busy and possibly narrow city roads. However, Waymo still has to be careful how quickly they can improve and implement the technology as expected.
"We are also very humbled that our technology solution is only one piece of a very complex puzzle," said Charlie Jatt, head of truck commercialization, Waymo Via. "It will require a gradual evolution for this scale to be fully useful."
Waymo has been developing autonomous driving technology for more than a decade, but has yet to improve its technology. Initially they focused solely on manufacturing robo-taxi but in 2017, they founded Waymo Via to build technology for automated delivery and trucking services. The company also has partnerships with trucking unit Daimler, long-haul truck driver JB Hunt and package delivery company UPS.
Waymo integrates self-driving software and sensors with Daimler trucks. The technology has already been tested with JB Hunt and UPS in Texas where Waymo hopes to deploy fully autonomous truck technology within the next few years.
If this really happens, Waymo will radically revolutionize the way goods are delivered in the world. Just wait!
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