On Thursday, Volvo announced major plans to begin autonomous truck operations for customers in Texas.
In a June 8 announcement, Volvo Autonomous Solutions (V.A.S.) announced that it opened offices in Fort Worth, Texas, as part of a larger plan to set up the company’s first autonomous freight corridors that will run from Dallas Forth Worth to El Paso and from Dallas to Houston.
To prepare for the eventual self-driving truck operations, V.A.S. will use trucks operated by human drivers to haul loads for customers including DHL and Uber Freight.
V.A.S. says that they plan to operate on a ” hub-to-hub model where autonomous trucks take on the highway portion of the driving, operating all hours of the day and night between transfer hubs while human drivers complete local operations.”
V.A.S. is currently accepting “reservations” on their website allowing “shippers, carriers, logistics providers and freight brokers can secure a priority position to purchase autonomous freight capacity.”
V.A.S. partnered with self-driving truck tech company Aurora as part of the autonomous trucking operation plan.
“At Volvo Autonomous Solutions we believe the path to autonomy at scale is through reducing the friction and complications around ownership and operations for customers. This is why we have taken the decision to be the single interface to our customers and take full ownership of the elements required for commercial autonomous transport. With the opening of our office in Texas and start of operational activities, we are building the foundations for a transport solution that will change the way we move goods on highways,” says Nils Jaeger, President of Volvo Autonomous Solutions.
“Through our Autonomous Transport Solution, our ambition is to create a new source of industry capacity that will ease some of the burden of the increasing demand for freight while also enabling local drivers to shift into short-haul jobs that will keep them closer to home. This will unlock significant efficiencies in the entire supply chain and benefit everyone in the transportation industry,” says Sasko Cuklev, Head of On-Road Solutions.