Volvo made a significant announcement on Thursday, revealing their ambitious plans to introduce self-driving truck operations in Texas. The company’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary, Volvo Autonomous Solutions (V.A.S.), opened new offices in Fort Worth as part of their strategic initiative to establish autonomous freight corridors. These corridors will connect Dallas Fort Worth to El Paso and Dallas to Houston, revolutionizing the transportation landscape.
In preparation for the forthcoming self-driving truck operations, V.A.S. will initially employ trucks driven by human operators to transport cargo for esteemed customers like DHL and Uber Freight. Embracing a “hub-to-hub” model, the autonomous trucks will handle the highway segments of the journey, operating tirelessly day and night between transfer hubs. Meanwhile, human drivers will focus on local operations, ensuring a seamless integration of autonomous and manual processes.
Excitingly, V.A.S. has opened reservations on their website, enabling shippers, carriers, logistics providers, and freight brokers to secure priority positions for purchasing autonomous freight capacity. This innovative approach guarantees interested parties a front-row seat to the future of transportation.
To facilitate their ambitious autonomous trucking venture, V.A.S. has forged a partnership with Aurora, a renowned self-driving truck technology company. By combining their expertise, Volvo and Aurora aim to unlock new possibilities and drive the success of their autonomous trucking operation.
Volvo’s move to launch self-driving truck lanes in Texas signals a paradigm shift in the industry, revolutionizing how goods are transported and paving the way for a future where autonomous vehicles play a crucial role in logistics and freight operations.
“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.
