Electric trucks find a sweet spot with inbound logistics

Using electric trucks for short, repeatable trips to assembly plants is expanding as more OEMs require suppliers to shush the noise and eliminate the diesel exhaust that accompany delivering incoming parts and components.

How did inbound logistics become a thing in an industry where change most often meets resistance? For their own reasons, stakeholders from sustainability-conscious shippers to regulators and OEMs like inbound logistics as a use case for electric trucks.

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https://www.freightwaves.com/news/electric-trucks-find-a-sweet-spot-with-inbound-logistics

Kodiak reveals production-ready autonomous truck at CES

LAS VEGAS — Kodiak Robotics on Tuesday revealed its sixth-generation Class 8 autonomous truck, a production-ready model it plans to launch without a human driver later this year in Texas.

After five years of testing and 5,000 driver-monitored autonomous loads covering more than 2.5 million miles, Kodiak reached the finish line with a system capable of being retrofitted on any major Class 8 truck. Kodiak will upfit Kenworth T680s with its redundant braking, steering, power and sensors that...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/kodiak-reveals-production-ready-autonomous-truck-at-ces

Founders of shuttered Argo AI launch autonomous trucking startup

The founders of shuttered self-driving car startup Argo AI, which was abandoned by Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG, are starting an autonomous trucking business with $1 billion in backing from Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp.

“With our proprietary technology and expertise as well as the commitment from our long-term partner in SoftBank, we are confident we will revolutionize the trucking and freight industries,” Bryan Salesky, founder and CEO of Stack AV, said in a news release.

The move is...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/founders-of-shuttered-argo-ai-launch-autonomous-trucking-startup

Kodiak Robotics tests electric powertrain in autonomous truck

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — It’s the peanut butter and the chocolate of freight hauling — combining an...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/kodiak-robotics-tests-electric-powertrain-in-autonomous-truck

Exclusive: TuSimple needs to win markets, customers as it stabilizes

TUCSON, Ariz. — Cheng Lu mostly watched from the sidelines for seven months as autonomous trucking startup TuSimple nearly imploded from the pressure of internal politics and external investigations. Upon returning as CEO in November after being ousted in an awkward succession, Lu quickly assessed the state of affairs and moved to stabilize the company.

So how is that going?

In his first public interview since being rehired to the top management post, Lu told FreightWaves that TuSimple is making...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/exclusive-tusimple-needs-to-win-over-markets-customers-as-it-regains-stability

Will autonomous trucks need ELDs? No — well, maybe

This is part of a FreightWaves series on the electronic logging device mandate. Federal regulators began enforcing the mandate on April 1, 2018. Read more from this series here.

Driverless trucks, which may or may not be the future state of long-haul heavy-duty trucking, likely won’t need electronic logging devices. Nor will hours-of-service regulations won’t apply to them. But the reality is more nuanced.

“Anytime a human is involved, ELDs will matter,” said Wiley Deck, vice president of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/will-autonomous-trucks-need-elds-no-well-maybe

Aurora approaches autonomous truck finish line

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As Class 8 autonomous trucking draws nearer, terms like operational design domain, safety case and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/aurora-approaches-autonomous-truck-finish-line

TuSimple delays production of Class 8 autonomous truck to 2025

TuSimple truck in garage

TuSimple is delaying commercialization of its purpose-built autonomous trucks until 2025 while relying on retrofits of existing Navistar equipment to expand driverless routes from Arizona into Texas.

“The commercialization is not tied to the production trucks,” Pat Dillon, TuSimple chief financial officer, said on a call with analysts Tuesday. “We’ll be using retrofitted trucks initially starting at the end of 2023 into 2024.”

Production-intent prototypes from Navistar International’s plant in...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/tusimple-delays-production-of-class-8-autonomous-truck-to-2025

Autonomous truck scaling: Is TuSimple competing with its freight customers?

TUCSON, Ariz. — Autonomous trucking startup TuSimple Holdings doesn’t see itself competing with customers who will buy trucks equipped with its autonomous software. Still, it is growing its own fleet to more than 200 trucks, putting it in the top 20% of freight haulers.  

“It’s not our business model that’s driving this,” TuSimple CEO Cheng Lu told FreightWaves during a visit to the company’s operations about 15 miles east of Tucson in the Sonoran Desert. 

“We are almost by default the first...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/autonomous-truck-scaling-is-tusimple-competing-with-its-freight-customers

Aurora closes in on production version of self-driving truck technology

Aurora Innovation developed a Level 4 autonomous truck back in 2018, but it didn’t really focus on commercial vehicles until 2020. Now, with Volvo and Peterbilt in line for its self-driving system, Aurora is closing in on a production-intent version.

The Mountain View, California-based company is making the most of its own Aurora Driver system and using Uber ATG software it acquired in December as part of Uber’s $400 million investment in exchange for 26% equity. For years, Aurora and Uber ATG...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/aurora-closes-in-on-production-version-of-self-driving-truck-technology

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