There has been a lot of change recently in the development of autonomous trucks.
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| So lots of activity still despite some firms leaving the market, but it would seem we have a long way and many obstacles still to come. |
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For example, in December perceived self-driving truck leader TuSimple announced it was closing its US operations.
The story was a bit complicated. San Diego-based TuSimple, founded in 2015, had faced scrutiny over the past year relative to safety concerns and potential transfer of intellectual property with a Chinese company.
As it wound down US operations, the company said in a regulatory submission that it was moving its business to China. (See In Surprising News, Autonomous Truck Leader TuSimple Announces Plans to Shutter US Operations.)
TuSimple had appeared to be among the leaders if not the leader in on-the-road testing of self-driving truck technology.
But the company is not the only one to pull out of autonomous truck development. Others abandoning the sector include the Alphabet Company’s Waymo unit, Embark and Locomation.
So who is left? Transport Topics, the magazine of the American Trucking Associations, recently did a nice job summarizing what’s happening.
For example, it reports that autonomous truck developer Aurora says it plans to commercially launch its technology with about 20 fully autonomous trucks with no driver by the end of the year.
Aurora has partnered with truck manufacturers Paccar and Volvo Trucks North America to integrate and eventually deploy its technology on those companies’ Class 8 truck models.
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Another self-driving truck developer named Kodiak Robotics also aims to begin operating autonomous trucks on public roads without a driver on board later in 2024.
Transport Topics reports that “Companies such as Kodiak are introducing trucks with streamlined sensor arrays, new safety features and redundant systems necessary for driverless operation.”
But we still have a long way to go. Transport Topics quotes autonomous trucking expert Lee White, president of LM White Consulting, as saying that for the next 36 months, the key questions will be “How are we going to adopt this technology? Where does it work? How does it work?”
A new company chasing the dream is Stack AV, which exited stealth mode in September to joine the ranks of the companies developing autonomous driving technology for Class 8 trucks.
The company was started by the founders of the now-closed autonomous driving firm Argo AI, and is backed by investment holding firm SoftBank Group Corp.
Transport Topics also called out a few others still working on autonomous trucks. Those include: Torc Robotics, Waabi, Gatik, Plus, Einride. Forterra, and Outrider.
So lots of activity still despite some firms leaving the market, but it would seem we have a long way and many obstacles still to come.
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