Autonomous

In December 2025, Waymo recalled 3,067 robotaxis after its vehicles ran red lights and blew through school bus stop signs at least 20 times in Austin alone, including one incident that occurred moments after a child crossed in front of a vehicle. Meanwhile, Aurora’s autonomous trucks have completed over 100,000 driverless miles in Texas without a single school bus incident. The difference is methodology, and understanding that difference might just save your life.

Samsara’s discussion panel on autonomous trucking and the future of physical operations covers topics such as augmenting vs. replacing labor, autonomous vehicle safety testing, automated warehousing, and the accelerated adopting of autonomous technologies in a variety of industries.

The company’s autonomous freight service, operating without a human driver onboard, is now making regular deliveries between Dallas and Houston.

Plus, an AI-based autonomous trucking software provider, and Tier IV, the world’s first open-source software for autonomous driving, announced a partnership to develop autonomous driving solutions in Japan.

Anthony Levandowski’s startup Pronto has announced an agreement with Heidelberg Materials to deploy its Autonomous Haulage System on over 100 trucks worldwide over the next three years.

While the company continues to deny any wrongdoing, TuSimple has filed to settle its federal fraud case.

Navistar has announced it will partner with Plus to integrate its autonomous driving technology into Navistar’s vehicles.

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Autonomous trucking startup TuSimple will be on the hook for $15 million in cash severance if it ousts CEO Cheng Lu a second time.

Uber Freight executive Olivia Hu joins chat about the advancement of the autonomous trucking industry during FreightWaves’ Autonomous and Electric Vehicles Summit.

Chargepoint will provide electric vehicle charging infrastructure for Gatik customers in the U.S. and Canada.

“There’s a lot more focus on tracking the product itself” when it comes to consumer packaged goods, said Bart De Muynck, vice president of supply chain research at Gartner.

Leading Phantom Auto’s series B funding round nets seat on board

“We founded Parallel to allow railroads to open new markets, increase infrastructure utilization and improve service to accelerate freight decarbonization,” said Matt Soule, co-founder and CEO at Parallel Systems.

Autonomous software provider will evaluate miniature machine for Navistar truck

Autonomous & Electric Vehicles Summit – Register Now

Locomation: Re-Engineering the World’s Supply Chain for Autonomy

With trucking demand expected to surge in lockstep with e-commerce growth, autonomous vehicles offer an innovative solution for an industry with an already strained workforce.

A Product Roadmap with Locomation: Full Autonomy in Four Phases.

GreyOrange’s Ranger autonomous robots work with employees in an e-fulfillment center in the Netherlands.

Speaking at the FreightWaves Cold Chain Summit, Gatik’s head of operations Sam Saad said the company is moving closer to having truly driverless vehicles on roadways by next summer.

Autonomous trucking software developer Ike announced a partnership to deploy level 4 driverless trucks.

Apex.AI is an autonomous driving startup that builds software on the Robot Operating System (ROS), bringing improved safety to vehicles.

ZF is moving full speed ahead as it builds out its electrification and e-mobility platforms and believes its proposed acquisition of Wabco will allow it to offer full-system solutions to commercial vehicle operators.

PetroChina now trades 82 percent lower than its historical high; Uber and Lyft drivers will no longer be contractors but employees; Waymo has clocked 10 billion miles in simulated driving.

The FreightWaves Freight Intel Group has released another study – this one on autonomous trucking. Read what they foresee for the trucking industry and drivers in the years ahead.

Uber is planning to sell 14 percent stake on its autonomous driving division for $1 billion to investment firm Softbank, automaker Toyota, and auto parts manufacturer Denso.

FreightWaves Radio’s seventh national show was broadcast on Saturday, April 6 on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Channel 146.

Navistar’s Steve Gilligan discussed several technological opportunities for truck makers, including autonomous and electric trucks, during this week’s ACT Research conference.

VayaVision, a startup that develops perception software for autonomous vehicles, today announced that they are the recipient of a €2.45 million SME Instrument Grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC) to support its expansion into the European market.

China leads the world in adopting futuristic transport technology and transit models – like electric vehicles and mobility as a service (MaaS). McKinsey believes that the trend would continue in autonomous driving niche as well.

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.

Pronto built a high-performing Level 2 solution for commercial vehicles with dynamic throttling, braking, and steering.

January’s World Economic Forum (WEF) white paper identified 16 factories that are leading the world economy in manufacturing technology. The United States has only one of these “lighthouse” facilities – Fast Radius’s Chicago factory, located in the city’s West Loop.

On today’s episode, Chad Prevost discusses weather, market volumes, and autonomous trucks with Market Experts Nick Austin, Michael Cosby, and Jeff Seibenhener.

Zipline has focused on humanitarian needs, delivering medical supplies to rural communities around the world.

As far as investors are concerned, the trade war is effectively back on.

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.

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.

ZF, the German automaker has released innovative trucks that can load and unload at the warehouse and last-mile electric delivery vans with level 4 autonomy.

Who various countries trust to create the next generation of autonomous vehicles.

How various countries feel about the safety of autonomous vehicles.

The investment round values Uber at $72 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Waymo is partnering with Valley Metro, a public transportation authority in Arizona, to shuttle people to and from public transportation stops via autonomous cars – thus planting its feet firmly in the race to put self-driving vehicles on the road.

Autonomous vehicles are the future, but how does the path to automation look like?

Safety has been touted as one of the primary factors behind the development of autonomous vehicles. So, when serious accidents do occur, people both inside and outside the industry are left with the same question: How can we make autonomous safer in the testing phase?

John Kasich signed an executive order in May that will allow companies to test autonomous vehicles on all public roads in Ohio.

Over the last couple of years, edge computing has emerged from relative obscurity to become one of the most talked about trends in internet infrastructure.

Technology is set to up-end three of the largest industries that truckers ship for: Retail, auto, and agriculture. All three are under attack from technology forces.

ELD hard enforcement had its impact on rates months ago, but the physical impacts to drivers and people on the ground is still an issue. Autonomous vehicle technology is progressing rapidly. 

The cost, size, complexity and power consumption of the supercomputers and sensors on each car are the main factors preventing today’s autonomous cars from scaling.

Another aspect of Uber’s legacy that persists: secrecy.

A rash of recent announcements from tech startups have revealed that self-driving trucks are already among us–and there is nothing to fear.

Even with lower levels of automation, trucks could essentially work around the clock, but what will regulators do about the ELD hours-of-service rule?

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.

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.

Sabrewing’s battery-less, gas-electric hybrid can fly anytime, anywhere, over and around weather –- and can carry up to 3,000 lbs. of cargo up to 5,000 miles.

The long-awaited infrastructure plan from the White House is taking shape and could be part of President Trump’s State of the Union speech on Jan. 30, according to Reuters. CNN, however, reports that the plan will not likely be finished by that time due to the president’s travel schedule.

Most of this research is being done in other states, far away from this part of the U.S. Places like California, Detriot, Singapore, and Pittsburgh are fast becoming the new epicenter of research in this sector.

Tesla is taking pre orders for its Semi, asking for $20,000 each. Participating in such an exercise is likely to end in disappointment

Trains are easier to run with autonomous vehicle technology, so they should come before self-driving cars, right?

Larger fleet owners that have been looking forward to autonomous trucks to solve the pesky driver shortage may find themselves unemployed too 

Google’s has invested more than $1.1B dollars in driverless technology. The number was revealed in court documents involved in the lawsuit between Uber and Google over its handling of Otto and self-driving IP

Delphi CTO says that autonomous vehicles will come to cities and ports long before they will ever go into the highway or over-the-road trucking markets 

Autonomous trucks, it turns out, may not be coming for the truck driver’s job after all. While many are predicting the demise of the worker due to automation, a leading expert on robots says that it will be many years before robots achieve the machine learning capabilities to operate amongst humans.

When the U.S. auto industry came roaring back to life, it was a boon for carriers who made their business hauling autos and related products. But as sliding sales in 2017 show, nothing lasts forever. And it’s possible that the future is even murkier for carriers who rely on the auto business for their livelihoods.

Facing increasing pressure from investors, Uber CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick stepped down Tuesday night from the $70 billion ride-sharing and transportation company.

Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed in a Bloomberg interview on Tuesday that the company is working on autonomous technology, further fueling speculation that the software giant is developing a self-driving Apple car.

Since its founding, LinkeDrive has become synonymous with driver performance coaching. Its PedalCoach product has helped thousands of drivers achieve higher fuel efficiency and boost safety performance. It turns out, though, that the data it is generating has a lot more potential.

Volvo Group and recycling company Renova are testing a self-driving refuse truck in Sweden that uses sensors that continuously monitor the vehicle’s path and stops the truck immediately if an obstacle appears. Volvo released a video of the vehicle in action. 

Volvo Group is testing a self-driving refuse truck. The truck allows a driver to walk behind the vehicle collecting refuse container. Also, it may be easier to test truck drivers for sleep apnea following a court ruling and the prospects for industry growth are perking up.

There is a lot of fear among drivers that they are being displaced by autonomous vehicles, and plenty of companies building these vehicles are looking to do just that. But one company is approaching the autonomous space with an eye on keeping drivers employed and improving their lives.

In this week’s edition of The Week in Trucking, the trucking industry gets an audience with President Donald Trump, drivers may not be needed in California, are robots are set to take over warehousing and FMCSA pulls a controversial safety-focused rule.

A University of Michigan study found that only 9.7% of those surveyed said they have no concerns about fully autonomous vehicles. But what about driving alongside an 80,000-lb. autonomous big rig? These are already being tested on roads and could be operational within five years. Is the industry ready for the disruption autonomous trucks will cause?

While much attention has been paid to autonomous trucks recently thanks to startup companies such as Otto, Embark and Startsky Robotics, many forget that the first company to test an autonomous vehicle in highways was truck manufacturer Daimler Trucks North America. Here is a look at the Freightliner Inspiration.