Autonomous Trucker Completes First No-Human Road Test

A semi truck has completed a whooping 80-mile trip to Arizona with no human on board and no human intervention, in what will be seen as a plus to autonomous technological development.

The expedition was made possible with a technology developed by TuSimple, a San Diego based company that develops commercial-ready, fully autonomous (SAE Level 4) driving technology for long-haul heavy-duty trucks.

The company while making the announcement of the 80-mile trip said it is the first successful full-autonomous run by a class 8 vehicle, or semi, on open public roads with no human intervention.

The trip, which occurred at night time, began earlier this month at a railyard in Tucson, Arizona, with approval and supervision form the Arizona Department of Transportation and law enforcement ended at a distribution centre in Phoenix to the excitement of autonomous industry enthusiasts.

To make the trip successful, a lead vehicle scouted the route for unforeseen obstacles just about five miles ahead of the autonomous semi, with a trailing vehicle trailing about one-half mile behind the truck, being prepared to intervene if necessary, together with a host of other unmarked police vehicles.

According to TuSimple, the semi successfully navigated highway lane changes, traffic signals, on-ramps and off-ramps while “naturally interacting with other motorists.”

Elated TuSimple CEO, ChenG Lu while delivering his verdict on the fully-autonomous trip, said:

“This test reinforces what we believe is our unique position at the forefront of autonomous trucking, delivering advanced driving technology at commercial scale”.

The company affirmed that the drivers represent an approximate 40 percent of all trucking operational costs, adding that its virtual driver “can be operated for significantly less”, while also estimating that its technology saves about 10% on fuel-related costs compared to human-driven trucks.

The TuSimple brand, founded in 2015, with headquarters in San Diego, California, has the mandate of improving the safety and efficiency of the trucking industry by solving the trucking industry’s most pressing challenges with the enablement of reliable, low-cost freight capacity as a service while setting a new standard for safety and fuel efficiency.

The company has through the development of industry leading autonomous driving system, purpose-built autonomous trucks with OEMs Navistar and TRATON, and the creation of the TuSimple Autonomous Freight Network (AFN), placed itself in reckoning as a reputable partner of choice for shippers, and carriers.

With the success of the new autonomous road test, the company noted it has 70 autonomous trucks globally and two million miles of road testing completed.