Waymo Via, the delivery part of Google’s self-driving division, is expanding its existing partnership with UPS to carry freight via autonomous lorries between Houston and Dallas-Forth Worth.
TechCrunch reports that Waymo is not saying how many trucks it is using on the 240 mile route, but that it did say “multiple trucks” from its test fleet which are equipped with its fifth-generation driver will be delivering goods for UPS’s North American Air Freight (NAAF) unit.
The trucks will have two autonomous specialists onboard — one driver with a commercial driver’s license and one software technician — who will monitor operations while in autonomous mode.
It adds that the trucks will be self-driving only on highways, and will switch back to manual mode for surface street portions.
(Picture – Waymo)
