Autonomous truck company TuSimple Holdings Inc. today announced that one of its vehicles has successfully traveled 80 miles on public roads without a human driver behind the wheel.

The test represents a world first, according to the company. TuSimple says that it’s the first time an autonomous semi-truck run has been completed on open public roads without a driver in the vehicle or human intervention.

TuSimple’s semi-truck set off from Tucson, Arizona, and arrived at a distribution center in the Phoenix area one hour and 20 minutes later. On the way to its destination, the vehicle navigated surface streets, traffic signals, on-ramps, off-ramps, emergency lane vehicles and highway lane changes in open traffic.

The trip represents the culmination of 18 months of work. As part of the development effort, TuSimple reportedly performed 1,800 tests totaling 150,000 miles on the stretch of highway between the truck’s Tucson starting point and the distribution center that was selected as its destination.

“By achieving this momentous technical milestone, we demonstrated the advanced capabilities of TuSimple’s autonomous driving system and the commercial maturity of our testing process, prioritizing safety and collaboration every step of the way,” said TuSimple President and Chief Executive Officer Cheng Lu. “This test reinforces what we believe is our unique position at the forefront of autonomous trucking, delivering advanced driving technology at commercial scale.”

TuSimple operates several dozen self-driving vehicles that it uses to transport cargo for customers in three states. TuSimple’s fleet consists of trucks from automaker Navistar International Corp. that the startup equips with its internally-developed autonomous driving system. The autonomous driving system uses artificial intelligence to navigate the road and features a sophisticated array of sensors capable of detecting objects from up to a kilometer away.

TuSimple’s technology has helped the startup win deals with some of the biggest players in the logistics market. 

UPS Inc., the world’s largest package delivery company, partnered with the startup in 2019 to support the operations of its North America Air Freight division. TuSimple vehicles have since transported cargo for UPS across more than 160,000 miles, the startup said in November. TuSimple also stated that its technology is helping the package delivery giant reduce fuel costs. 

DHL Supply Chain is another major logistics firm that has teamed up with TuSimple. Earlier this month, the firm ordered 100 autonomous vehicles from the startup.

The vehicles ordered by DHL Supply Chain are from a new line of semi-trucks optimized specifically for autonomous driving that TuSimple is currently developing together with Navistar. TuSimple has also inked a self-driving truck partnership with another major automaker, Volkswagen AG’s Traton division. As part of the partnership, the companies are collaborating on self-driving truck development and also plan to set up autonomous delivery routes in Sweden.

Photo: TuSimple