These Mega Carriers Are Among The First to Pre-Order TuSimple’s Self-Driving Trucks
San Diego, CA – TuSimple, an autonomous trucking technology company intent on disrupting the trucking industry and displacing truck drivers, announced it has received nearly 7,000 pre-orders of its self-driving trucks.
On Monday, the Silicon Valley autonomous technology startup said more mega carriers are jumping on board and reserving a new line of purpose-built SAE Level 4 (L4) International LT Series autonomous trucks.
Among the first customers to place reservations are Penske Truck Leasing, Schneider, and U.S. Xpress, TuSimple said in a release.
The announcement does not come as a surprise.
U.S. Xpress and Schneider are among the carriers which have already bought an ownership stake in TuSimple.
In fact, the CEOs of both transportation giants currently serve on TuSimple’s Executive Advisory Board.
All three of the companies are among those partnering with TuSimple on its Autonomous Freight Network (AFN), which the tech maker describes as an “ecosystem consisting of autonomous trucks, digital mapped routes, strategically placed terminals, and TuSimple Connect, a proprietary autonomous operations monitoring system.”
Perhaps no carrier has aided in the development of TuSimple’s self-driving technology more than U.S. Xpress.
The Chattanooga, TN-based mega carrier has been working closely with TuSimple for two years to better understand and prepare its operations for the arrival of autonomous technologies.
“We have been working with TuSimple since 2019, and we see them as the clear leader in autonomous trucking technology, which is why U.S. Xpress is among the first in line for reservations,” said Eric Fuller, president and CEO of U.S. Xpress. “Autonomous technology is complementary to other investments we’ve made to broaden our portfolio of services across the supply chain.”
TuSimple said it has, so far, received 6,775 reservations for its self-driving trucks and expects to begin production in 2024 in partnership with Navistar.
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Last month, TuSimple became the first self-driving truck company to go public and raked in nearly $1.1 billion during its initial public offering.
In addition, other transportation behemoths such as UPS and Werner Enterprises each bought a stake in TuSimple, along with railway leaders CN and Union Pacific.
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. also purchased a stake in the company earlier this year.
