J.B. Hunt, Waymo add Wayfair to autonomous trucking pilot in Texas
J.B. Hunt Transport Services and Waymo report that the latest development in their collaboration on autonomous trucking technology will include a pilot delivering goods for the former’s customer Wayfair.
This will span six plus weeks during July and August and take place along the I-45 corridor between Houston and Dallas, the location of J.B. Hunt and Waymo’s original pilot nearly one year ago.
It will be the first in-depth transportation of home furnishings retail freight between J.B. Hunt and Waymo Via (the company’s autonomous Class 8 trucking unit powered by the Waymo Driver technology).
“Real-time testing with customers like Wayfair is critical to making autonomous freight movement a viable solution in the future,” says Craig Harper, Chief Sustainability Officer and Executive Vice President at J.B. Hunt.
“Every supply chain is unique, so it’s important that customers can work alongside J.B. Hunt and Waymo to ensure that advanced autonomous technology will create capacity that meets their needs.”
“Through shared experiences, technology integration and innovative thinking, autonomous technology can help us advance J.B. Hunt’s mission to create the most efficient transportation network in North America.”
Throughout the pilot, J.B. Hunt, Waymo and Wayfair will monitor and evaluate data relating to delivery logistics, loading and unloading freight, autonomous performance, and factors influencing the overall driving and non-driving experience.
The initiative will use J.B. Hunt 360° technology to automate several processes such as check calls and transactions to improve driving efficiency.
Autonomous specialists - a commercially licensed driver and a software technician – will be in the cab for the duration of each trip to monitor the Waymo Driver’s operations.
“Expanding our alliance with J.B. Hunt and beginning to move freight together for Wayfair is an exciting next step toward applying the Waymo Driver technology to commercial goods delivery,” says John Verdon, Trucking Lead, Business Development and Partnerships at Waymo.
“We couldn’t be more delighted to work alongside companies who share our innovative spirit and excitement for what autonomous driving technology can mean for the trucking industry.”
“innovation is at the core of everything we do, and this pilot with J.B. Hunt and Waymo is a great example of this,” says Sean Halligan, Wayfair’s Chief Global Supply Chain Officer.
“We’re excited to continue our work with J.B. Hunt and their willingness to collaborate with us on this autonomous commercial vehicle test as a part of our overall strategy to evolve our logistics strategies and end-to-end supply chain solutions.”
