More autonomous trucks are delivering freight along the Houston-Dallas corridor.
Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Waabi recently announced the start of autonomous operation for Warp in Texas, the first customer operation in the Volvo-Waabi partnership.
The Volvo VNL Autonomous powered by the Waabi Driver is now transporting freight directly to third-party facilities along the corridor. These operations enable Warp, an open-source freight network that provides less-than-truckload and truckload freight services for carriers and shippers, to transport its customers’ goods autonomously.
The start of customer operations between V.A.S. and Waabi marks a milestone in the two companies’ partnership. Integrating V.A.S.’ autonomous transport ecosystem Autona / freight into Warp’s freight network creates opportunities to optimize freight flows and support more efficient movement of goods as demand grows, according to the two companies. Autona / freight brings together the Volvo VNL Autonomous, Waabi’s autonomous driving technology, fleet and transport management, terminals and customer endpoints, operations, and uptime support to deliver a complete transport solution designed to scale.
Volvo said its VNL Autonomous is built from the ground up for autonomy with redundancies for six safety-critical systems and specifically designed to integrate autonomous driving systems from partners such as Waabi. Currently autonomous hauls are run with an observer in the driver’s seat.
With customer operations underway, V.A.S. and Waabi said they will use real-world experience from the Dallas–Houston lane to prepare for additional routes and support the broader scaling of autonomous freight in the coming years.
LTL shipping requires dynamic networks to consolidate, haul, and distribute goods from multiple customers on tightly coordinated schedules. By moving freight directly between facilities, without handoffs, the Volvo VNL Autonomous powered by the Waabi Driver gives LTL providers like Warp a more predictable way to keep their networks on schedule, according to the companies.
