Plus.ai, a Cupertino, Calif.-based provider of self-driving trucking technology, has completed its first coast-to-coast commercial freight run with an autonomous truck on behalf of Land O’Lakes, Inc., Arden Hills, Minn.
Spanning 2,800 miles, Plus.ai’s L4 autonomous truck completed the hub-to-hub trip from Tulare, Calif., to Quakertown, Pa., in less than three days, making it what is said to be the first L4 U.S. cross-country commercial pilot hauling a fully-loaded refrigerated trailer of perishable cargo.
The truck was equipped with Plus.ai’s advanced autonomous driving system, which utilizes multimodal sensor fusion, deep learning visual algorithms and simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM) technologies. The vehicle drove primarily in autonomous mode across interstate 15 and interstate 70, passing through varied terrains and weather conditions. A safety driver was onboard at all times to monitor and assume control if needed, and a safety engineer was present to monitor system operations.
“This cross-country freight run with Land O’Lakes shows the safety, efficiency and maturity of our autonomous trucks, which are already delivering freight for other partners several days a week,” says Shawn Kerrigan, co-founder and COO of Plus.ai. “Continued advances in our autonomous trucks will make it possible for these quick cross-country runs to be the norm in the future. We are excited to demonstrate what our technology can already achieve today while meeting rigorous autonomous driving safety and food transportation compliance standards.”
“Self-driving and other emerging transportation technologies stand to completely reshape commercial shipping, so we are thrilled to collaborate with technology leaders like Plus.ai to pilot autonomous trucks for our shipping needs,” says Yone Dewberry, chief supply chain officer of Land O’Lakes. “End of the year is a very busy time for us. To be able to address this peak demand with a fuel- and cost-effective freight transport solution will be tremendously valuable to our business.”
