Getting goods where they need to go safely and easily is at the heart of Waymo Via’s mission. We’ve been carrying freight for customers since 2018, when we completed our first commercial pilot with Google’s Data Centers, and have continued to haul goods on behalf of other Fortune 500 companies across the southwest U.S. As we progress on this journey to commercialize the Waymo Driver for trucking, we’re now working with J.B. Hunt, one of the largest, most reputable, and most innovative transportation logistics companies in the U.S., to autonomously transport loads in Texas for one of their leading customers.
We’ll be using our Class 8 trucks operated by the Waymo Driver on one of the most highly utilized freight corridors in the country, I-45, hauling goods between facilities in Houston and Fort Worth.
As a leading for-hire truckload carrier with operations across the U.S., J.B. Hunt is an ideal collaborator to explore how the Waymo Driver can be integrated across fleets and enhance safety and efficiency. Carrying freight is just one aspect of our collaboration; we’ve also worked closely with J.B. Hunt for some time now on operational and market studies and will continue to do so as we roll out autonomous driving technology. We’ve explored topics such as best practices for regular maintenance, what future facility layouts will look like, and which lanes are best suited for autonomous driving technology, to help ensure long-term preparedness on both sides. These trial runs offer another way to achieve these learnings and will help us define how we can continue working together long-term to advance the trucking industry through the deployment of autonomous driving technology.
We can’t wait to share more on what we learn from these runs together with J.B. Hunt, so stay tuned!
Charlie Jatt, Head of Commercialization for Trucking, Waymo –
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with J.B. Hunt as we advance and commercialize the Waymo Driver. Our teams share an innovative and safety-first mindset as well as a deep appreciation for the potential benefits of autonomous driving technology in trucking. It’s companies and relationships like these that will make this technology a commercial reality in the coming years.”
Craig Harper, Chief Sustainability Officer, J.B. Hunt –
“This will be one of the first opportunities for J.B. Hunt to receive data and feedback on customer freight moved with a Class 8 tractor operating at this level of autonomy. While we believe there will be a need for highly skilled, professional drivers for many years to come, it is important for J.B. Hunt as an industry leader to be involved early in the development of advanced autonomous technologies and driving systems to ensure that their implementation will improve efficiency while enhancing safety.”
SOURCE: Waymo
