Daimler Truck subsidiary plans autonomous trucking pilot in the US

Torc Robotics, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck and a pioneer in commercialising self-driving vehicle technology, has announced its strategic collaboration with C. R. England, one of North America’s leading transportation companies.

Torc and C.R. England will implement a pilot program leveraging C.R. England’s temperature-controlled loads and Torc’s fleet of SAE Level 4 autonomous test trucks for long-haul applications. The collaboration will serve as an expansion for Torc to support carriers in the refrigerated freight market.

The joint pilot project aims to provide select customers with temperature-controlled capacity and world-class service. Information from the pilot will include unique insights, and will help guide the development and ongoing commercialisation of autonomous trucks for long-haul applications. Initial planning will begin mid-2023, with on-road tests soon after.

Joanna Buttler, Head of Autonomous Technology Group at Daimler Truck, said: “We listen very closely to our customers to understand their business requirements. Torc’s collaboration with C.R. England allows for unique insights into truckload freight that will help integrating with fleet industry logistics. While developing a safe and reliable truck platform for the integration of our partner’s autonomous technology, co-creation will bring us closer to our goal of commercialising and implementing autonomous trucking within this decade.”

“Torc is thrilled to be partnering with C.R. England to better improve long-haul trucking safety for one of the premium service providers and largest refrigerated carriers in the nation,” said Peter Vaughan Schmidt, Torc Robotics CEO. “The data derived from the pilot will contribute to our safety and validation efforts and use cases for autonomous trucking.”

C.R. England CEO Chad England added: “C.R. England is excited to announce our partnership with Torc for pilot activities on Level 4 autonomous test trucks. We believe this innovation will eventually provide the ability to expand our network safely, with high levels of service to our customers, all while enhancing the quality of existing driver jobs. Specifically, by adding autonomous lanes to our network, we can expand our customer offerings and create more structured jobs for drivers at both ends of autonomous runs. Torc’s deep integration with Daimler Truck AG makes our two organisations a perfect fit for piloting this new technology.”

The pilot program with C.R. England is Torc's second carrier project.In September 2022, Torc associated with Schneider towards implementation of a pilot program utilising Torc’s autonomous test fleet. The Daimler Truck news comes on the heels of Torc’s recently announced acquisition of Algolux for its award-winning intellectual property and expertise in computer vision and machine learning.