Trucking first: Autonomous Volvo makes delivery of beer

Updated Oct 28, 2016
Autonomous truck delivering BudweiserAutonomous truck delivering Budweiser

Trucking history was quietly made last Thursday, Oct. 20, when a Volvo VNL made a 120-mile trip on I-25 fin Colorado.

While the cargo was normal — a load of Budweiser beer — the truck was not; the trip was the first commercial delivery made by an autonomous truck.

Jason Cannon wrote about it at “Commercial Carrier Journal”:

“The path toward a “driverless truck” is full of firsts, many of which have yet to take place. But last week the movement cleared one of its most significant hurdles to-date – actually making an autonomous delivery.

“Through a partnership between Otto and Anheuser-Busch, drinkers of Budweiser in the Colorado Springs-area will be the first in the world to consume goods delivered by a fully-autonomous truck. Trucking tech startup Otto, which was bought by Uber in August, hauled more than 51,000 cans of Budweiser during a pre-dawn run last Thursday from Fort Collins, Colo., through downtown Denver, before arriving at Colorado Springs for delivery.”

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