When Daimler Trucks North America introduced its 2020 model year Freightliner New Cascadia. all attention was focused on the eye-opening headline: it is a Level 2 autonomous truck. While that is the sexy part of the truck, an even sexier headline for fleets should be the advances in fuel efficiency in the new model.
The 2020 model year Freightliner New Cascadia features technologies that qualify it as a Level 2 autonomous, but drivers shouldn’t be scared off by that.
Ike CEO Alden Woodrow and TuSimple chief product officer Chuck Price discuss the value of being the first company to bring a fully autonomous truck to market, the trucking hardware challenge and how to get buy-in from the public and regulators.
Baraja raised U.S.$35m on the back of its ability to use lasers, prisms and the colors of the rainbow to grant sight to machines. It’s a critical step on the path to helping vehicles drive themselves. Photo – Shutterstock.
Message from NATSO: Technology trends will force truck stop owners to reevaluate how they serve their customers.
Pronto built a high-performing Level 2 solution for commercial vehicles with dynamic throttling, braking, and steering.
The arrest came a little over month after the Farm Bill made hemp and all of its byproducts legal.
Small, yet powerful satellites can now be deployed for just a fraction of the cost of more traditional satellites, potentially changing the way logistics companies access location and other data for assets.
Though semi autonomous trucks would be a reality in a decade, IRU believes that it would not displace drivers from the trucking ecosystem but would only make their jobs more sophisticated.
The connected Smart Cities of the future require smart solutions that go beyond just autonomous vehicles.
Walking the show floor at the Detroit Auto Show is an experience that transforms you from the here and now to visions of the future.
Autobon AI is building an aftermarket autonomous vehicle system that would allow any commercial truck to be turned into an autonomous truck.
The MOBi-ONE is large enough to move washers and dryers, and do so autonomously through the air, perhaps redefining last-mile drone delivery before it even gets started.
Ford will build vans and midsize pickups under an alliance formed with Volkswagen, while tapping into VW’s autonomous and electric expertise.
DOT chief Elaine Chao today called on manufacturers and Silicon Valley to help instill public confidence in the safety of autonomous vehicle technology.
“We’re doing this with real commercial shippers and real cargo,”
Delivery robots, shifting supply chains due to trade wars, and automation slowing productivity in ports
“This is the biggest barrier from going where we are today to commercialization.”
Walmart will deploy autonomous vehicles to deliver groceries for customers, according to Tom Ward, senior vice president of digital operations for the retail giant. Autonomous vehicle company Udelv is providing the technology to make the pilot program possible.
Daimler will put a level four truck on the road in the U.S. this year, Daimler Trucks CEO Martin Daum said during a speech this morning at the Keep Memory Alive Center.
Daimler kicked off its CES presentations with a ride and drive event at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a workshop on the company’s EV strategy.
The udelv autonomous delivery vehicle, with an electric range of about 60 miles, will enter a pilot program with XL Parts in Houston.
Technology proponents see automation as aid to driver, not replacement, in short-term as challenges persist for driverless truck.
If driver wages are eliminated, total cost of ownership will fall. But capacity will saturate the market and rates will crash. In the end, trucking will still be a capital-intensive and low-margin industry.
Pilot tests are being run now on the most basic aspect of platooning technology, but there’s more to come.
“We are completely certain the Cascadia will revolutionize Mexico.”
An investor and startup founder talked about the health of the automotive industry, and how autonomous vehicle trends differ in the car and freight markets.
The global snapshot survey is based on interview data from 450 transport companies across Europe, the GCC and Asia, and reveals a number of fascinating insights.
The credit rating agency says that well-capitalized, risk-sharing joint ventures between incumbent automakers have the best chance of successfully bringing AV products to market safely and at scale.
Also in today’s issue: a beating shows the dangers to truckers, even off the road; an Indian company looks to disrupt that company’s trucking sector.
Lithium is going to be in there, the industry wants cobalt out or lowered, and a few other metals are lining up to take its place in the next generation of batteries.
VAYAVISION, an Israeli startup that works on providing raw data fusion and perception systems for autonomous vehicles has raised $8 million in seed financing, which it plans to invest in its productization process.
From on-demand trucking to blockchain, loadboards and freight matching, the list of companies bringing innovative technologies to the freight industry is growing by the day, which makes the 100 that have made the cut to be honored by the FreightWaves Research Institute as part of its inaugural Freight.Tech 100 all the more special.
As part of a wide-ranging DOT initiative to prepare for driverless vehicles, FMCSA will address regulations that could be slowing the development of these technologies in the commercial vehicle space.
What do you get when you combine a last-mile delivery solution company with a semi? You get an autonomous truck startup that’s skipped a few steps ahead of the competition.
Leaders from state departments of transportation across the country participated in a panel discussion about connected and automated vehicles, and the winding road to their ubiquitous adoption.
One year after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan SELF DRIVE Act, House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders called on the Senate to advance automated vehicle legislation.
Which jobs in the trucking industry are most at risk to autonomous trucking, and what can we do to prepare?
Leaders from several different safety advocacy groups came together to ask the U.S. Senate to add safeguards to the AV START Act (S. 1885), a bill that addresses autonomous vehicles.
John Kasich signed an executive order in May that will allow companies to test autonomous vehicles on all public roads in Ohio.
Volvo Trucks and FedEx demonstrated their truck platooning technology in North Carolina this morning, in conjunction with the North Carolina Turnpike Authority.
As demonstrated by recent collisions involving autonomous vehicles, drivers must remain vigilant and ready to take control of the vehicle at any moment. “Driver readiness” is paramount to successfully operating an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle,
Everyone sees the market as strong and staying that way, but are there other headwinds in the trucking sector?
Irrespective of who wins the race to deploy the first fully autonomous vehicles, the unanimous view was that in the future, size is going to matter and carriers/OEMs will need balance sheets to be able to survive.
SenseTime Group Ltd. just raised $600M from Alibaba and other investors, making them the world’s largest AI startup. SenseTime’s product offerings and strategic plans reveal how closely related mass surveillance and autonomous driving really are.
JD Logistics, the delivery arm of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, uses electric bikes as just one last-mile delivery solution. The delivery drivers pick up goods as local “delivery stations” for final delivery.
An Uber self-driving SUV struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, the first known time a pedestrian has been killed by an autonomous vehicle.
The U.S. has been particularly bad over the last few decades at helping people who’ve lost out during periods of technological change. Is there a new emerging story?
A rash of recent announcements from tech startups have revealed that self-driving trucks are already among us–and there is nothing to fear.
The Tesla Semi has finally hit the road. Tesla founder Elon Musk posted a picture of two Tesla Semi’s leaving the company’s Gigafactory in the Nevada mountains for a trip to California.
The ATA recognizes that “technology is cool,” but also that it had better play its own vital role in adopting and adapting plans in a realistic manner.
In a recent phone interview with FreightWaves, Quanergy CEO Louay Eldada spoke about what makes his company’s LiDAR sensors superior to the competition.
Signs are pointing to a new reality: self-driving trucks will help the industry. And the people who keep it running will continue to show us why they’re such an important part of the supply chain.
Autonomous vehicles may be coming, but it doesn’t appear to be very soon.
5 days into the trial, Uber settled the Waymo lawsuit on the cheap. But who really benefits? We break down the deal here.
According to a report from Tech Crunch, Elon Musk’s Tesla is preparing to test autonomous driving on a cross-country trip within 3 to 6 months.
The Nuro is a self-driving vehicle designed to run your errands for you. It is poised to change the way that businesses interact with their local customers.
The race to self-driving and electric vehicles has focused medium and heavy-duty vehicles lately, even though many believe local and urban is the best place for electric trucks. udelv, though, is focusing on that last-mile.
General Motors (GM) has positioned itself to be “the prime mass-market manufacturer of self-driving cars” according to a report by Automotive IQ.
Transparency18 is designed to be a unique freight conference for participants. Towards that end, the two-day event will dedicate one day to live product demonstrations. Companies are encouraged to sign up to demonstrate their innovative solutions.
Regulations surrounding autonomous vehicles are taking different approaches in the U.S. and Europe, with Europe writing specific technologies into its laws.
FreightWaves had a chance to speak with Jason Schenker about what’s ahead for the freight and automotive industries, and what that means for our lives.
FreightWaves’ readers made the past year a great one for our young brand. Today, we take a fond look back at your favorite articles from 2017.
In the developed countries of the West, autonomous driving technology is widely touted as the thing of the future. Move halfway across the globe to one of the densest and the world’s second most populated country, the idea of self-driving vehicles might still be a distant dream.
How rapidly the autonomous truck becomes a common sight on local roads and interstate highways – both in the U.S. and abroad – depends on numerous factors. Maybe we should check ourselves at the propaganda and hype-machine door.
Peloton announced that vehicles equipped with its platooning technology have covered over 1,000 miles in Florida testing.
Tesla is now accepting orders for its Tesla Semi in three European countries. The different dynamics of the European freight market represent some different challenges for the company.
An automated refuse collection vehicle (RCV) was officially launched at the Volvo Innovation Summit in Brussels, Belgium, by the Volvo Truck Corporation.
Taiwanese company Foxconn Technology Group is planning to build a manufacturing plant in Mount Pleasant, WI, and now wants the state to build it a roadway for autonomous vehicles
Trains are easier to run with autonomous vehicle technology, so they should come before self-driving cars, right?
With the evolution of trucks into computers on wheels, cybersecurity becomes more of an issue. Autonomous trucks are especially an attractive target for the hacking community.
Anheuser-Busch’s private fleet is among the leaders in the country when it comes to efforts to cut carbon emissions through alternative fuel use. The company is taking another step, announcing it has reserved 40 Tesla Semi electric tractors.
TuSimple, a Chinese autonomous truck technology startup that is backed by Nvidia with offices in San Diego, has raised an additional $55 million in venture capital.
Following a Thanksgiving week that saw loads depressed, but not rates, the spot freight market was going full steam ahead last week with loads climbing 64% on the DAT network of load boards.
The deployment of autonomous vehicles will become a viable option for Singaporean locals, thanks to a joint effort between the city-state’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Ministry of Transportation (MOT).
Embark, Ryder and Frigidaire are testing Embark’s semi-autonomous trucks on routes running from Texas to California.
Velodyne LiDAR in San Jose, CA, announced this morning the release of its ground-breaking new sensor for autonomous vehicles, the VLS-128, which offers double the range and 10x the resolution of its previous industry-leading sensor.
What’s technology is next in line to become the new normal? Blockchain technology? Drones delivering anything under five pounds within hours or minutes? Maybe. Just as likely, and maybe even sooner: self-driving cars and, especially, self-driving trucks.
Automation and digitization continue to infiltrate the shipper and 3PL markets, even as those industries lag in investment, according to a study conducted by Infosys Consulting and presented during a Stifel conference call on Tuesday.
China-based autonomous driving technology start-up, Tianjin TSINTEL Technology, has successfully secured $15.15 million in a Round A fundraising spearheaded by the CMG Innovation Investment Management Co., Yicai Global reports.
Tesla updated its Semi website over the holiday, publishing a $150,000 base model version going to $200,000 for a limited run special Founder Version. The company also increased the deposit for orders to $20,000 each from $5000.
Last week, FreightWaves published a commentary suggesting that solving the driver shortage may be as easy as raising pay – a supply and demand issue. We got many comments on that, including from Stifel Equity Research’s John Larkin, who said economics is not the only issue at play.
What does the Tesla Semi look like? This gallery shows the truck for the first time, including what the inside of the day cab looks like.
The Tesla Semi is purely battery-electric, carrying enough storage capacity for 500 miles, according to the company. With plenty of fanfare, the truck made its long-awaited debut, and the range was not the only surprise.
Millennials are tech-savvy more often than not, and providing them with tools that could ease the life of a trucking job could empower a lot more to join the system.
The push for autonomous vehicles is gaining more traction as it is provides an easy solution to the worsening driver shortage. Greg Nichols, writing for ZDNet, says the obvious reason is that “millennials don’t want to drive trucks.”
The future of transportation is not found in Silicon Valley or Detroit. Singapore will lead the next century of transportation innovation.
Trump clears regulations for commercial drone flights in the US, ushering in a new age of airfreight drones.
One of 2017’s biggest stories in the emerging autonomous vehicles industry—Waymo’s $2.6B lawsuit against Uber over stolen trade secrets—revolves around a single piece of technology that is currently fueling a frenzied global competition for investment dollars, engineering expertise, and manufacturing capacity.
The supply chain stands at the crossroads of innovation, with the impact of technology felt in different micro-niches. Here is a look at some of the technologies that are showing considerable potential and looking to change the facade of freight hauling forever.
The concept of driverless trucks has recently jostled the transportation industry. However, truck drivers everywhere may be relieved to discover that world-renowned business tycoon, Warren Buffett, is betting a fortune on their livelihoods, and sees no need to worry about an impending AI driver revolution.
The second largest e-commerce player in China has sealed the deal and will deploy the first automatic delivery vans to operate on the mainland. JD.com has confirmed the partnership deal made with Chinese automobile manufacturers Dongfeng Motor Corporation and Shanghai-based SAIC Maxus, China Daily reports.
In the rush to develop autonomous, long-haul trucks (and trains) that could double productivity – driving for 24 hours a day with no need for rest – it may turn out that the competition for freight may really be in the sky.
Daimler has been given permission by the Oregon Department of Transportation to test truck platooning on the roads of Oregon following successful trials in Madras, OR. The company has said it will first test the platooning technology on two connected heavy-duty Cascadias in the first step called “pairing.”
An entirely new generation of technological change is now occurring in the transportation industry, and it’s called the autonomous truck, or what design specialists refer to as “intelligent engineering.” But what are some of the benefits, and risks, associated with the technology?
Bosch may be well known for its automotive technology, but it is less known for its commercial vehicle technologies here in the United States. That is starting to change as Bosch is investing in technologies that will be part of the electric and autonomous future many are predicting for the industry.
Wabco’s acquisition of the remaining 50% ownership stake Meritor held in the Meritor Wabco joint venture, which began 27 years ago, a few weeks ago is one of the steps Wabco is taking to ensure its continued growth and positioning for the future.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is creating both hope and fear in the transportation industry; hope for the wealth of efficiency, cost savings, and safety improvement that AI promises, and fear that the ever-changing job market that accompanies the AI movement may put the careers of thousands in the transportation industry in jeopardy.
Self-driving technology puts truck driver jobs at risk, however, the potential benefits are rewarding. And that is making it a hot topic in Washington, where legislators are trying to determine how involved the government should be.
As the Congress works on developing legislation aimed at regulating self-driving vehicles, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is looking to guide that legislation with less of a regulatory hand, according to Bloomberg.
