Self-Driving Semis

In a real-world demonstration of autonomous trucking, one company has run seven trips along an 80-mile freight-hauling route between Phoenix and Tucson without a driver behind the wheel, and plans to begin hauling freight for Union Pacific sometime this spring.

The 53-foot rig operates at Level 4 autonomy, which means that no human is required to be in the vehicle, but the route must be predefined and mapped out in advance. In the seven trips that have taken place, a survey vehicle was deployed about six miles ahead to scout out potential problems and a trailing car monitored the truck’s movements. The test runs have taken place in early evening traffic, but additional runs are planned during daytime hours and along different routes.

The company hopes to begin commercial operations on a larger scale by the end of 2023 and has identified the Texas triangle – Houston to Dallas to San Antonio – as a potential target market.