J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) disclosed that it has inked a collaboration agreement with Waymo Via. This strategic collaboration with Waymo Via will advance innovative efforts to combine commercial autonomous driving technology in transportation and logistics. The companies have plans to execute fully autonomous transport in Texas in the next few years.
The growing partnership will include multiple pilots to further assess the operational capacity of Waymo Via, the company’s autonomous Class 8 trucking unit backed by the Waymo Driver, to fulfill customer needs in realistic scenarios. Waymo and J.B. Hunt executed their first trial run last year moving freight along I-45 in Texas for one of J.B. Hunt’s leading customers. The upcoming pilots are scheduled to take place in the same lane.
Furthermore, J.B. Hunt disclosed that their pilot last year with Waymo Via aided the company to know how autonomous driving technology could be deployed within its operations. In addition, this strategic collaboration will continue that drive and further find the sophisticated details that would make this a value-driven solution for customers.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services has full confidence that autonomous driving technology will support it to create the most efficient transportation network in North America, and its partnership with Waymo Via is an important step towards accomplishing that mission. On the other hand, Waymo believed that this strategic collaboration indicates an exciting moment for their alliance.
More importantly, Waymo believed that this partnership will pave the way for both companies to help grow the basis for successful implementation and to exploit the benefits of autonomous driving technology.