We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Subscriptions
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Change Me
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • The Logistics of Defense
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Subscriptions
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Change Me
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • The Logistics of Defense
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Plus.ai to pilot autonomous trucks on snowy Minnesota test track
newsworthy

Plus.ai to pilot autonomous trucks on snowy Minnesota test track

October 9, 2019
Ben Ames
No Comments

As increasing numbers of self-driving truck providers run pilot tests on public roads, California-based vendor Plus.ai has launched a partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to measure its vehicles' performance in tough winter conditions.

The deal marks the agency's first partnership with an autonomous trucking company to test on MnDOT's MnROAD cold-weather pavement testing facility, and is intended to gather data to inform public policy discussions, Cupertino, California-based Plus.ai said Tuesday.

That approach could be important in an environment where increasingly mature autonomous driving platforms are being slowed from wide deployment more by resistance from regulatory bodies than by their underlying technology.

Fellow autonomous trucking vendor Kodiak Robotics recently said it had begun making its first commercial deliveries—with a safety driver behind the wheel—but those trips are restricted to Texas, where regulations allow the trucks on the roads. Likewise, Embark Technology said in 2017 it had teamed with Ryder System Inc. to conduct self-driving truck tests in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

Providing additional data on the performance of autonomous trucks could help to commercialize them and to broaden the map of regions that allow self-driving vehicles, the company said. 

"Our partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation enables us to test Plus.ai autonomous trucks in all weather environments, particularly across tough winter conditions," Plus.ai COO and Co-founder Shawn Kerrigan said in an email. "More than 70 percent of U.S. roads are in snowy regions, and we see this partnership as a valuable opportunity to inform public policy discussions around autonomous driving, with the ultimate goal of improving safety, efficiency, and viability of autonomous trucking technologies."

Plus.ai has previously tested its vehicles on both closed tracks and public roads in more than a dozen U.S. states, as well as numerous locations in China, Kerrigan said.

The new round of testing in Minnesota will help the company to better understand how its trucks handle winter conditions, which can be particularly challenging when vehicles are loaded with freight and weigh in at up to 80,000 pounds. The program will begin with mapping the MnROAD closed test track, followed by rigorous performance testing of Plus.ai's self-driving trucks, he said.

Plus.ai will provide its Level 4 autonomous driving technology, installed in trucks provided by the automakers Navistar and Paccar. For these tests, a human driver will monitor the truck and can intervene if needed.

Minnesota will also benefit from the opportunity to generate new data on self-driving trucks, regulators said. "As automation and emerging transportation technology evolve, the Minnesota Department of Transportation understands how critical it is to collaboratively share information and expertise with partners like Plus.ai. Learning how these vehicles operate in winter weather helps Minnesota advance safety innovation for everyone in the transportation system," Kristin White, executive director of MnDOT's Office of Connected and Automated Vehicles, said in a release.

Transportation Technology Trucking Robotics
KEYWORDS Plus.ai
  • Related Articles

    Plus.ai to test its autonomous trucks at Ohio proving grounds

    Florida nears opening date for autonomous vehicle test track

    FMCSA to hold public "listening session" on autonomous trucks

Benames
Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.

Recent Articles by Ben Ames

CN offers $33.7 billion to one-up rival’s bid for Kansas City Southern railway

Social issues become a new logistics KPI

Catching the boomerang

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Roadrunner Freight bolsters LTL capabilities with $50 million in new backing

  • Southeastern Freight Lines Promotes Marty Cox to Service Center Manager in Cincinnati, Ohio

  • Pull back or go deeper—how the pandemic influenced shipper-3PL engagement

  • Boston Dynamics trials box-lifting robot for unloading trucks

  • The growing crisis in agriculture exports: interview with Peter Friedmann

Now Playing on DCV-TV

9cddf77b a6f2 40d3 b603 004e451106fb

Dealing with Rapidly Rising Freight Costs

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
I don’t know if it’s because of our Two Minute Warnings, or the fact that shippers are experiencing the conditions we warned about in our Code Red webcasts, but lately, I’ve heard the same message from several C-Level and supply chain executives: Their companies are experiencing supply chain challenges and their...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Special Report: Supply Chain Trends in Retail & Consumer Goods

  • Fortify Your Operational Resilience

  • Cold Storage Automation: Leveraging Advanced Technologies to Meet Increasing Demand

  • The modern warehouse: Maximizing productivity and capacity

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2021. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing