TuSimple starts self-driving truck network with UPS, Berkshire Hathaway's McLane

US Xpress Enterprises

01/07/2020 13:00

By Nick Carey
    July 1 (Reuters) - U.S. technology company TuSimple on
Wednesday launched a self-driving freight network with UPS and
Berkshire Hathaway Inc  BRKa.N  supply chain unit McLane that it
said should operate nationwide by 2024 and start running some
driverless trucks routes by 2021.
    United Parcel Service Inc  UPS.N  and McLane, which serves
convenience stores, mass merchants, drug stores and chain
restaurants, already run some shorter test routes with TuSimple.
    UPS, which bought a minority stake in TuSimple last year,
will add a fresh route in the next few weeks, a spokeswoman for
TuSimple said by phone.
    Trucking firm US Xpress Enterprises Inc  USX.N  has signed
up to start using TuSimple's network soon, she said.
    UPS, the world's largest package delivery company, is
betting that autonomous vehicle technology can expand more
rapidly in commercial vehicles than in robotaxis.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N25A158
    Freight routes are far more predictable than robotaxis, as
trucks run between fixed points that are easy to map. 
    TuSimple executives liken their network to a railroad, with
trucks following set routes like rails between those fixed
points. 
    By 2021, TuSimple's network should cover fixed routes
between a cluster of southwestern U.S. cities - Phoenix and
Tucson in Arizona; and El Paso, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio
in Texas. Those routes consist almost exclusively of major
highways.
    TuSimple already operates on seven routes between Phoenix,
Tucson, El Paso and Dallas.
    TuSimple currently uses a driver and engineer on each truck.
    By 2023, TuSimple aims to offer service between Los Angeles
and Jacksonville, Florida. And by 2024 the company wants to run
driverless operations on major shipping routes around the
country and is banking on the federal government to come up with
a regulatory framework for self-driving freight vehicles by
then.
    

 (Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Richard Chang)
 ((nick.carey@thomsonreuters.com; +1 312 636 8837;))