A record was made on August 10, 2018 when a truck without human intervention or an autonomous truck drove from Tucson to Phoenix. By June this year, it is estimated that that truck will be expanded into a fleet of 50 trucks. TuSimple is the company that is operating these semi-trucks using software and technology. The trucks will still have a human on it and this is necessary for cases of emergency although there are plans that this requirement will be shelved in the future. A spokesperson for Tusimple said that by 2020 or 2021, the trucks will go fully autonomous and they would not require a human intervention for emergency cases at all. According to the company, their ambition and mission is to bring the first self-driving truck to the industry and the market. This move they said would help to increase safety in the industry, reduce costs of transportation and labor, and also reduce their carbon emissions. But the question remains about how competitive the company will be compared to other trucking agencies in town with their new announcement. Currently, while operating the self-driving trucks, Tusimple have an engineer and a driver on board in case of emergencies although humans would be completely removed from the process in the future when customers demand it and conditions improve.
Key Takeaways:
- A record was created on August 10, 2018 when a long haul vehicle successful made a delivery between Tucson and Phoenix without a human on it.
- The company, TuSimple, states that their aim right now is that by 2020 all their vehicles will go fully without having any human on the vehicle.
- The goal of the company which aligns with its mission is to reduce their carbon emission and increase safety while being the first to have a fully autonomous truck.
“These long-haul semi-trucks, operated and programmed by technology company TuSimple, still have humans onboard in case of an emergency.”