A robot dispatcher and a self-driving truck just sent a load ‘without any human involvement’

This week, two companies say that their technologies were able to work together successfully broker and transport a load without any human help.

On Thursday, July 8, Starsky Robotics and Loadsmart issued an announcement about the trucking industry’s first autonomous dispatch and delivery.

The companies say that this “marks the first time an autonomous company and a digital broker have collaborated to price, book and load a shipment without any human involvement.”

The companies say that “they were able to automatically dispatch an autonomous truck to haul freight; having successfully priced, tendered and booked via Loadsmart and then picked up and delivered the shipment using Starsky’s self-driving technology. The integration of Loadsmart’s AI-powered pricing and load matching technology with Starsky’s API meant no human intervention was required.”

Stefan Seltz-Axmacher, CEO and founder of Starsky Robotics said, “It’s not uncommon for a traditional trucking company to have 5 full-time employees involved in dispatching each truck for each load. By integrating e-brokers like Loadsmart, we are eliminating all back office human intervention and making the shipment process seamless, while focusing on ensuring the safety of driverless trucks. With Starsky’s Hutch API, which was also announced today, we will be able to autonomously dispatch autonomous loads on a regular basis.”