TuSimple Operates Self-Driving Trucks in U.S.
TuSimple, a self-driving truck company, announced that it has 11 trucks in the U.S. and will have 40 trucks in fully-autonomous operation by June. The company said that it had 12 contracted customers, including Fortune 100 and “large international” companies.
The company is making makes three to five fully-autonomous trips per day for customers on three different routes in Arizona, it said in a Jan. 7 announcement. An additional route from Arizona to Texas was expected to begin operations in early 2019. TuSimple’s self-driving trucks are running daily fully-autonomous commercial routes from depot-to-depot, which requires both highway and local street driving, it said.
At CES 2019, Jan. 8-11 in Las Vegas, TuSimple displayed a Navistar International LT semi-truck, highlighting the company’s self-driving perception system and showcasing what TuSimple trucks “see” while driving autonomously.
TuSimple also announced it is working with suppliers including Cummins Inc. Cummins and TuSimple will work to enable powertrain integration with autonomous technologies. Cummins was instrumental in developing the industry standard interface between powertrains and autonomous systems. Cummins is bringing its nearly 100 years of technological experience with engines, components and controls to partners like TuSimple and other technology companies to ensure seamless and safe integration in the efforts to bring autonomous vehicles to commercial markets.
“We are pleased to work with TuSimple and other companies across the globe to help bring autonomous vehicle technology to commercial markets,” said Morgan Andreae, executive director, growth office at Cummins Inc. “Cummins is a global powertrain leader with expertise in not only engines, but also controls and electronics and we are bringing this technical knowledge to develop a sophisticated interface that can allow powertrains and vehicles to integrate and operate efficiently, effectively and safely.”
“Exactly one year after debuting our prototype system at CES 2018, we’re now running up to five commercial trips a day in Arizona, expanding our fleet and moving quickly toward our goal of creating the first commercial self-driving truck,” said Dr. Xiaodi Hou, founder, president and chief technology officer at TuSimple. “We are making tremendous progress towards the commercialization of our technology and trucking ecosystem with key Tier 1 partners like Cummins.”
With the company’s camera-centric perception solution, TuSimple’s trucks have a vision range of 1,000 meters, or nearly 1,100 yards, the company says.
TuSimple’s self-driving trucks can see 360 degrees around for a pixel-level interpretation of the visible environment, enabling the vehicle to have three-centimeter control precision always, the company said.
The trucking industry is currently facing a shortage of drivers, which is expected to increase. According to a PwC study, autonomous trucking technologies will reduce annual operating costs for a traditional average long-haul truck by 28% in 2025. TuSimple is aiming to transform the U.S. trucking industry by cutting costs, reducing carbon emissions and eradicating some of the challenges currently faced by operators.
TuSimple was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in San Diego.
The company’s mission is to increase safety, decrease transportation costs, and reduce carbon emissions. For more information visit www.tusimple.ai.
