Dive Brief:
- Volvo Autonomous Solutions and tech partner Waabi have launched their first autonomous customer operation in Texas for freight forwarder Warp, according to an Oct. 5 press release.
- A Volvo truck equipped with Waabi’s autonomous driving system and a human safety driver behind the wheel is actively transporting freight directly to third-party facilities between Dallas and Houston, per the release.
- The shipping lane’s launch “creates opportunities to optimize freight flows and support more efficient movement of goods as demand grows,” the press release said.
Dive Insight:
The start of an autonomous shipping lane is a milestone for the partnership between Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Waabi that began in 2023.
Warp is an open-source freight network that coordinates less-than-truckload and full-truckload freight services for carriers and shippers. Because LTL shipping requires dynamic networks to consolidate, haul, and distribute goods from multiple customers on tightly coordinated schedules, autonomous technology provides a more predictable way to keep networks on schedule, the release said. Retailers Walmart and Kith and consumer goods delivery platform Gopuff, are listed among the customers of Los Angeles-based Warp.
“The value of autonomy grows when you can coordinate the freight around it,” Warp CEO Daniel Sokolovsky said in the release. “Warp brings together shipments from multiple customers and aligns routes, capacity, and timing, so advances on a single lane can benefit the broader network.”
The collaboration with Warp shows how quickly autonomous technology can adapt to new customers and complex operations, Nils Jaeger, president of Volvo Autonomous Solutions, said in the release.
“What we learn on the Dallas–Houston corridor will help us strengthen our partnership and continuously improve the ecosystem as we scale,” Jaeger said.
While Jaeger announced during an investor event in June that Volvo Autonomous Solutions would remove safety drivers and go fully autonomous on U.S. highways in Q1 2027, the lane launch with Warp and tech partner Waabi will not be part of that, Ceren Wende, a spokesperson for Volvo Autonomous Solutions said in an email to Trucking Dive. Volvo’s plan to start fully driverless operations with no observers on board will begin with the company’s other tech partner Aurora Innovation, she said.
Wende said there is no timeline for removing the safety observer from the trucks used on the lane for Warp. She added any future transition “away from a safety driver will be driven by a rigorous, evidence-based safety process, including extensive testing, validation, and regulatory engagement.”
“We will only proceed when we have considered all aspects and deem it appropriate to do so,” Wende said.
