SAN DIEGO — Autonomous driving tech developer TuSimple will use Ryder System fleet terminals to expand its autonomous freight network. TuSimple announced the partnership July 29.
According to a release from TuSimple, the two companies will work together to select existing Ryder facilities to serve as terminals along the TuSimple autonomous freight network. The partnership will allow TuSimple to expand its network without building new facilities.
Currently, TuSimple’s fleet of more than 50 Level 4 autonomous trucks transport freight across Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Later this year, the company plans to expand operations to the East Coast with a freight route between Phoenix and Orlando, Florida.
“The trucking industry is on the verge of a massive disruption, and we’re seeing strong demand for access to reliable autonomous capacity from shippers, carriers and fleets,” said Cheng Lu, president and CEO of TuSimple. “The partnership with Ryder will enable us to grow our operational footprint to continue to meet these needs and set the pace for industry adoption.”
Initially, the partnership will focus on Ryder’s facilities in the Southern U.S. However, with Ryder’s nationwide network of more than 500 maintenance facilities, the partnership has the potential to rapidly scale, according to the two companies.
“With this partnership we believe Ryder is positioned to become a leader in the servicing of autonomous trucks,” said Karen Jones, EVP, CMO and Head of New Product Innovation at Ryder. “Ryder is focused on how to best leverage our vast location footprint, maintenance operations, and visibility tools to lead in the future world of autonomy. Partnering with TuSimple will help bring autonomous operations to market more quickly, while also providing Ryder access to new and emerging revenue streams.”
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