WASHINGTON: US tech company Aurora Innovation has started hauling freight between Dallas and Houston using self-driving trucks in what promises to usher in a new era of road transport.
The 18-wheel rigs now operate a route of 250 miles (about 400km) without a safety driver in the cab, the company announced in May, claiming the first self-driving heavy duty truck service in the US.
Aurora said the busy Dallas-to-Houston route, which links warehouses, is only the first to be automated this year.
Driverless truck services will later be expanded to Phoenix and El Paso.
The trucks use Level 4 automation, which allows vehicles to operate mainly in self-driving mode.
The trucks do not require human interaction in most circumstances although a human still has the option to manually override, the company said.
Photos – Aurora/dpa
The technology is already in use by Alphabet's Waymo which unveiled a Level 4 self-driving taxi service in Arizona amid a relaxation of the rules on self-driving cars by the US government.
Before the go-ahead, Waymo had been testing self-driving cars without a safety driver in the seat for more than a year covering over 10 million miles (16 million km) of rides in the process.
Experts said driverless trucks need to look much farther down the road than robotaxis in busy cities, and must take steps to respond to potentially critical situations
The freight route between Houston and Dallas has been the focus of testing by several autonomous truck developers, many of which have been fettling driverless truck infrastructure, reported US car magazine Car & Driver.
Aurora credited its driverless truck with "superhuman" driving abilities through using a rich sensor-array of LiDAR, radar sensors and cameras.
The truck can detect pedestrians at the side of the highway, make space for aggressive drivers and detect and share the road with emergency vehicles, said Aurora.
Aurora says its tech on board can "see" more than 450 metres ahead and has the ability to spot and can react to pedestrians up to 11 seconds sooner than human drivers at highway speeds at night.
The tech was endorsed on the company's website by trucking executive Richard Stocking of Hirschbach Motor Lines.
"Transforming an old school industry like trucking is never easy, but we can’t ignore the safety and efficiency benefits this technology can deliver," said the chief executive.
"Autonomous trucks aren’t just going to help grow our business – they’re also going to give our drivers better lives by handling the lengthier and less desirable routes." – dpa
