FedEx starts using autonomous trucks

Aurora Innovation, a California-based self-driving technology company, last week began testing autonomous trucks made by Washington-based Paccar, hauling FedEx loads between Dallas and Houston. The pilot marks the next phase of a partnership between the three companies that was announced in January.

“There’s nothing that will be more transformational” to the trucking industry’s economics than the possibility of removing drivers, said Paccar chief technology officer John Rich.

The fleet of a dozen trucks, owned by Aurora, will be used for “several trips per week” on the 500-mile round-trip route while hauling real, revenue-earning loads, an Aurora spokesperson said. The company has outfitted the Paccarbuilt trucks with its driverless technology, which includes sensors, cameras, radars and additional software.

The trucks being used in the pilot project will have a human safety driver behind the steering wheel.

Aurora said it hopes to begin selling its autonomous trucking infrastructure commercially in select states by late 2023 without a safety driver. A spokesperson said testing without a safety driver would start before then.

Rebecca Yeung, vice president of innovation and advanced technology at FedEx, said the company is less interested in applying autonomous trucking to routes that are currently operated by its own drivers and more interested in using it for routes that are currently outsourced to third parties. For example, FedEx outsources routes to third parties when it can’t keep up with shipment volumes during surges in business.

“Our driver is our biggest asset,” said Yeung, asserting that drivers and autonomous technology are “complementary in nature, not conflicting in nature.”