DETROIT: U.S. truck fleet operator J.B. Hunt Transport Companies Inc and autonomous automobile expertise firm Waymo will take a look at human-supervised, self-driving vans to ship cargo between Houston and Fort Price, Texas, increasing an present relationship.
The take a look at comes as trucking firms are scrambling to seek out drivers, and experimenting with automated driving expertise as a technique to ultimately cut back the necessity for human operators.
Waymo, a unit of Google guardian Alphabet Inc, stated on Thursday its Waymo Through trucking operation will present J.B. Hunt vans outfitted with its automated driving programs to haul hundreds alongside Interstate 45 between Houston and Fort Price. The vans will have the ability to drive themselves on the freeway, however they’ll have a licensed driver and a software program technician on board, the businesses stated.
The take a look at can have a restricted period.
J.B. Hunt stated in an announcement the take a look at will give the freight hauling firm information on how automated vans may function on its community.
“Whereas we imagine there might be a necessity for extremely expert, skilled drivers for a few years to come back, it is necessary for J.B. Hunt as an trade chief to be concerned early within the improvement of superior autonomous applied sciences and driving programs to make sure that their implementation will enhance effectivity whereas enhancing security,” Craig Harper, chief sustainability officer and govt vice chairman at J.B. Hunt, stated in an announcement.
Automated driving expertise for passenger autos and industrial vans has been beneath improvement by Waymo and different firms for greater than a decade. To this point, firms haven’t launched large-scale, industrial deployment in the US of both robo-taxi or robo-freight providers.
Union leaders have taken intention on the prospect of self-driving vans, warning lawmakers in Washington that hundreds of jobs may very well be misplaced https://www.reuters.com/enterprise/autos-transportation/us-labor-leader-calls-human-drivers-automated-vehicles-2021-05-17 if they permit truck fleets to interchange drivers with software-driven robots.
Waymo and J.B. Hunt have already got been working collectively on planning for automated truck fleets, the businesses stated. The trial runs in Texas are aimed toward creating a long-term plan for collaboration, the businesses stated.
