Navistar has partnered with autonomous driving technology company Plus to launch an autonomous commercial pilot program for its trucking fleet.
Trucks from the division of the Volkswagen Group’s Traton truck manufacturing subsidiary have already been equipped with the ‘SuperDrive by Plus’ system and are being validated with a safety driver on routes in Texas. The two firms will work together to create hub-to-hub autonomous trucking routes.
In this hub-to-hub system, a human driver would move freight through urban areas before dropping off their cargo at a transfer hub near a highway. An autonomous truck would then haul the cargo along the highway to another transfer hub where it will be transferred back to a human driver for delivery.
Read: VW Group’s Traton Unit Finalizes Merger With U.S. Truck Maker Navistar International
“There is a strong business case for autonomous technology in the hub-to-hub distribution model, specifically in long-haul transportation where there’s a compelling opportunity to increase operational efficiencies,” Navistar chief Strategy and Transformation officer Tobias Glitterstam said. “Global partnership with a company like Plus allows us to leverage the technical strides they have made as we work together to focus on the commercial viability of Level 4 autonomous driving.”
Navistar had previously been working with TuSimple on self-driving systems but it has since exited the U.S. market, Auto News reports. The truck company was acquired by VW’s Traton SE in late 2020 in a $3.7 billion deal.
Plus described its array of SuperDrive technologies as a “Level 4 autonomous driving system,” which also provides “solutions for maintenance, telematics, safety, and reliability.”
“We are excited to partner with Navistar to build the next generation of transportation solutions enabled by our industry-leading autonomy technology,” added chief operating officer and co-founder of Plus, Shawn Kerrigan. “By leveraging our experience deploying our highly modular and flexible autonomous driving software across the U.S., we can help accelerate the commercialization of autonomous trucks that can easily be integrated into customer operations.”
