Navistar has partnered with Plus, a company specializing in autonomous driving technology, to launch an autonomous trucking pilot program within its fleet. The trucks have already been equipped with the ‘SuperDrive by Plus’ system and are undergoing validation with a safety driver on Texas roads. The two companies plan to collaborate on creating hub-to-hub autonomous trucking routes.
In this system, a human driver would transport the cargo through urban areas before dropping it off at a transfer hub near a highway. An autonomous truck would then take over the transportation of the cargo along the highway to another transfer hub, where it would be handed over to a human driver for the final delivery.
Navistar and Plus, a software company dedicated to autonomous trucking, are joining forces to deploy autonomous trucks on roads in Europe and the United States. Plus will integrate its Level 4 autonomous SuperDrive technology into the autonomous-ready base vehicles of Scania, MAN, and Navistar, according to a company press release.
Shawn Kerrigan, COO and co-founder of Plus, stated that they will accelerate the global commercialization of Level 4 autonomous trucks and offer safer and more sustainable transportation solutions.
The trucks are currently being tested on public roads in Europe, as well as in San Antonio and Dallas, with a safety driver on board, the companies have specified. The trials will be extended to other routes in the Texas Triangle and along the Interstate 10 corridor, Plus has indicated.
Tobias Glitterstam, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Navistar, emphasized that autonomous technology can increase operational efficiency in long-haul transportation. The company had previously collaborated with TuSimple Holdings to introduce autonomous trucks for long-haul freight on the roads, but this initiative failed in 2022.
