Self-Driving Semi Truck Completes A 950-Mile Trip
Having self driving trucks on the road is a closer reach than fully self-driving cars at the moment.
We have proof of that as a self-driving semi-truck hauling a load of watermelons from Arizona to Oklahoma completed its trip 10 hours faster than a Human Driver last month.
A company called TuSimple is in charge of this fleet of self-driving trucks. TuSimple is a transportation company that mainly focuses on driverless tech for big rigs.
The all new self driving truck by TuSimple completed a 950-Miles (1,528 km) Trip, making it 10 Hours faster than a human driver, according to TuSimple.
The self-driving Semi completed the trip in just 14 hours and 6 minutes. The self-driving semi-truck's software reportedly took control of the vehicle for more than 80% of the trip, driving from the middle section of Tuscon, Arizona to Dallas, Texas, a distance of roughly 960 miles. This is incredible! The other 20% was the driver. TuSimple didn't release information about whether the onboard drivers had to take over at all during the trip. There was no reported accidents either.
Keeping in mind that the truck did save significant time on its route, however driverless technology has a losing hand of cards in this area. If you're a trucker you will know that drivers are only allowed to drive for 11 hours out of every 14 hours on the road based on Federal Laws. The law states provisions requiring minimum rest periods in between shifts too. So if self-driving technology is practicable for trucking, this will mean that transit times for all types of goods such as produce and electronics could be slashed. Truckers will not have to worry about stopping for rest and sleep.
TuSimple's autonomous system is only optimized for highway driving. TuSimple currently has 20 plus clients that count on their semi-autonomous technology and rely on them to do what they do, with that said, the company is well on their way into the future to have fully autonomous customers.
TuSimple is actively working to get commercial ready level-4 fully autonomous driving solutions for tracker trailers. The systems will use AI technology to help trucks see more than 3,280 feet away, the truck will operate continuously during routes, unless mechanical issues occur and will use 10 percent less fuel than manually driven trucks on the road these days, as its press release stated a similar report.
"We believe the food industry is one of many that will greatly benefit from the use of TuSimple's autonomous trucking technology," said Jim Mullen, Chief Administrative Officer at TuSimple.
"Given the fact that autonomous trucks can operate nearly continuously without taking a break means fresh produce can be moved from origin to destination faster, resulting in fresher food and less waste."
Below is a TuSimple commercial introducing their truck.
Source: TuSimple
