The founders of Argo AI LLC, a self-driving car startup backed by Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG that had raised $3.6 billion in funding before it was shut down in October, are back with a new autonomous truck business called Stack AV Co.

Stack AV launched today with a focus on revolutionizing the way businesses transport goods. The company claims to be designing solutions to alleviate longstanding issues that have plagued the trucking industry, such as driver shortages, lagging efficiency in uptime per vehicle, overarching safety concerns, high operating costs and elevated emission levels.

The company is building autonomous trucking solutions focusing on creating better and smarter supply chains for its partners. Goals include improving business outcomes for its customers, delivering goods to end-users faster and ultimately moving the trucking industry forward.

Stack AV’s technology and advanced approach to safe systems design and testing have also been designed to maximize trucks’ uptime, optimize existing infrastructure and improve roadway safety.

Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Stack AV’s Argo AI alums include Chief Executive Officer Bryan Salesky, President Peter Rander and Chief Technology Officer Brett Browning. Between them, they are said to have seven decades of combined experience, including in autonomy-enabled systems, robotics and AI.

At launch, Stack AV already has 150 employees across its headquarters and in 15 states. The company is being backed by Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group Corp. and although the amount SoftBank has put into the company has not been disclosed, Bloomberg reports it’s believed to be more than $1 billion. Along with capital, SoftBank is also providing resources and deep expertise in AI to help accelerate Stack AV’s growth and technological developments.

“As consumer consumption patterns evolve, businesses increasingly need AI-driven, intelligent and reliable supply chains,” founder and CEO Salesky said in a media release. “With our proprietary technology and expertise, as well as the commitment from our long-term partner in SoftBank, we are confident we will revolutionize the trucking and freight industries by driving improvements in efficiency and safety and alleviating supply chain constraints for our customers, helping them reach their goals and advance their missions.”

Image: Stack AV