MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Autonomous driving technology company Waymo Via will partner with UPS to use Class 8 trucks for trial runs in Texas this holiday season.
According to a news release from Waymo Via, “Over the next several weeks, we’ll conduct autonomous trial runs together using our Waymo Via Class 8 trucks equipped with the fifth-generation Waymo Driver. These trial runs will take place in Texas, where the Waymo Driver will deliver for UPS’s North American Air Freight unit between facilities in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston.”
Waymo said it hopes the runs will allow for more data to be collected about how autonomous driving technology can help enhance safety and efficiency.
Additionally, the company said it will be better able to “evaluate the performance of the autonomous system and successful delivery of freight, and understand how to refine our autonomous operations in this use case for eventual scaling.”
Waymo Via officials said that with the “unprecedented demand and need for freight movement,” its technology, combined with UPS, “will help fill critical needs for our partners during this time.”
“These Class 8 trial runs will build on all of the learnings and success we’ve had testing with UPS over the years, as well as our previous Class 8 trial runs with other carriers across unique verticals, including J.B. Hunt,” the news release stated.
“While it’s still early days, this partnership with UPS is a great example of how Waymo Via is creating an autonomous delivery solution spanning trucking and local delivery that can offer customers unique safety benefits, network flexibility and scalability.”
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