The on again off again status off self drive trucks has had a chequered past across the over past decade, however virtually all truck prototypes that have been testing autonomous technology have so far been custom-modified versions of existing models.
However at Daimler Trucks North America , a new version of its fifth-generation Freightliner Cascadia, produced has been designed to be fully autonomous-ready from the start nd the company says deliveries in America have just begun.
Daimler Truck’s North America’s subsidiary, Torc Robotics, says it has just received the first units of the new Cascadia engineered for SAE Level 4 autonomy, which it says will permit operation without a driver in the cab and in addition to built-in sensors, the truck also features redundant safety systems for future driverless operations.
“Daimler Truck North America installs all essential compute and sensor kits during the vehicle production process,” the truck maker noted.
“This preparation allows Torc Robotics to seamlessly integrate their virtual driver upon delivery,” the company said.
Torc Robotics says that the future itself is not all that distant, with the company planning to test the trucks in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico.
“There is significant freight volume moving between Laredo and Dallas, connecting major cities like San Antonio and Austin,” the company stated in its press release.
The Dallas to Houston route has also seen plenty of testing by several autonomous truck developers and Torc has also begun work on a hub in the Dallas-Fort Worth area meant to serve autonomous trucks, which will first focus on its testing program.
Torc said it has already achieved successful tests on a multi-lane track in Texas last year , with no driver in the cab and in the coming months will see additional tests in real-world traffic.
When it comes to commercialisation, Torc and Daimler Truck say they plan to launch commercial operations of its SAE Level 4 trucks in 2027, serving routes between two freight hubs.
These first routes are expected to launch in Texas, but plans for longer routes between states are also on the drawing board among autonomous developers vying to be the first to launch commercial operations, at least in highway settings.
One of Torc’s competitors, Kodiak Robotics, has recently launched trucks that work in sand delivery in mining operations, working on mostly unpaved roads in rural areas, though this is not quite the same as autonomous routes that have to interact with thousands of other traffic users at highway speeds.
This latest major milestone,is in fact the the fifth-generation Freightliner Cascadia, which has become the company’s first truck to have an autonomous variant available straight from the factory.
“Delivering the latest iteration of our autonomous-ready vehicle platform, including production-intent autonomy hardware to Torc marks a significant milestone for Daimler Truck towards series maturity and scaling,” said Joanna Buttler, head of global autonomous technology group at Daimler Truck.
The company says it’s safe to say at this point that the early years of autonomous trucking are likely to focus on hours-long routes in Texas, with its permissive approach to Level 4 tech, but longer routes in the future will need some innovation including modified refueling and inspection infrastructure for trucks without drivers.
Don’t hold your breath in Australia as we are many years away from having similar innovation
