Autonomous Trucking Approaches Inflection Point
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LAS VEGAS — After many years of development work, autonomous trucks are now on the cusp of commercial driverless operations on highways, in logistics yards and on private sites.
Several developers and trucking industry experts shared their outlooks for autonomous trucking during a pair of panel discussions at the 2025 Manifest supply chain and logistics technology conference, held Feb. 10-12.
“I personally think we’re at an inflection point,” said Dustin Koehl, chief operating officer at Covenant Logistics.
What felt like a science experiment several years ago has become more concrete as developers have worked with fleet operators to better understand their challenges and how autonomy could help solve them.
Koehl, whose career in trucking has included time at self-driving trucking firm Waabi and truckload carrier U.S. Xpress Enterprises, acknowledged that a level of fatigue with autonomous vehicles has set in among some trucking companies, but he also noted significant progress in this field.
I’ll now make a bold statement: The technology is solved. Now it’s really about building a product and building a real business which is safe, which can scale. This takes time.
Peter Vaughan Schmidt, Torc Robotics CEO
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Today, truck makers are moving toward production of autonomous truck platforms with redundant safety systems to enable driverless operation, while artificial intelligence is enabling developers to iterate and design products faster, he said.
Covenant, based in Chattanooga, Tenn., ranks No. 40 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 76 on the TT Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies.
Moving forward, the remaining obstacles for autonomous trucking are less about technical barriers than about integrating the technology into the freight transportation industry.
Torc Robotics shows its autonomous driving system equipped on a Freightliner Cascadia tractor at Manifest 2025. (Seth Clevenger/Transport Topics)
“I’ll now make a bold statement: The technology is solved,” said Peter Vaughan Schmidt, CEO at self-driving truck developer Torc Robotics. “Now it’s really about building a product and building a real business which is safe, which can scale. This takes time.”
Torc is targeting a 2027 commercial launch of its virtual driver technology.
Truck manufacturers have introduced models designed specifically for driverless operation. These vehicles feature redundant components to ensure safe operation even if a key system fails — including backup systems not only for braking and steering but also in the sensor suite and onboard computing.
Vaughan Schmidt said Torc’s autonomous driving technology is capable of functioning even if it loses half of its sensor input and half of its computing power.
Developers positioned autonomous trucks not as a substitute for human drivers, but as a supplement to the industry’s workforce that can unlock significant efficiency gains.
Forterra and Kalmar Ottawa showcase an autonomous terminal tractor prototype with an automated trailer coupling system at Manifest 2025. (Seth Clevenger/Transport Topics)
“This is not a replacement for humans. This is a way to augment and increase the throughput,” said Josh Araujo, CEO of Forterra, a developer of autonomous trucks for military and commercial applications.
For Paul Enos, CEO of the Nevada Trucking Association, the most promising potential benefit of autonomous trucking is road safety.
“For me, the most compelling thing about autonomous trucks is stopping accidents,” he said.
Enos said he’s not interested in displacing drivers but would be more than happy to displace the plaintiff attorneys that are targeting the trucking industry.
An important innovation for #autonomous yard trucks: @ForterraDrive is showcasing an automated trailer coupling system from Electrans that connects with a specialized faceplate developed by @StoughtonTrlrs at #Manifest2025. @Kalmarglobal pic.twitter.com/DM7JIsvCM9 — Seth Clevenger (@SethClevenger) February 11, 2025
A second panel at Manifest delved into multiple use cases and business models for self-driving trucks.
Autonomous trucking startup Bot Auto, for one, is pursuing a transportation-as-a-service model focused on “middle-mile” on-highway freight lanes.
While many self-driving truck developers ultimately plan to supply their virtual driver technology to trucking businesses, Bot Auto intends to operate as a motor carrier itself using its own fleet of autonomous trucks.
“We never considered ourselves being a technology company. … We think of ourselves as a trucking company,” said Xiaodi Hou, Bot Auto’s founder and CEO.
He said the guiding “North Star” for Bot Auto is much the same as it is for the trucking industry at large — “cost per mile.”
Moderator Lee White (from left), Bot Auto’s Hou, Fernride’s Kramer and Outrider’s Hall break down multiple use cases for autonomous driving technology in the trucking industry during a separate panel discussion. (Seth Clevenger/Transport Topics)
Hou previously co-founded and led another autonomous trucking firm, TuSimple, and is now engaged in a legal battle with that former venture and seeking to liquidate its assets.
Terminal tractors and yard operations represent another use case for autonomous driving in the freight transportation industry.
“Confined, controlled, private property environments are a great place to begin autonomy and automation for heavy vehicles like trucking,” said Bob Hall, chief operating officer at Outrider, which is developing driverless yard trucks.
Automating yard operations can help ensure the continuous, uninterrupted delivery of freight, Hall said, comparing the logistics yard to the heartbeat of a freight transportation network.
“It’s pumping freight out the same way the heart pumps blood, and you’ve got to keep that moving,” he said.
The TruckWings aerodynamic device, which closes the gap between the tractor and trailer, installed on a Frito-Lay truck in the exhibit hall at #Manifest2025. @ConMet pic.twitter.com/IeqjVKwvKj — Seth Clevenger (@SethClevenger) February 11, 2025
Outrider is focused on minimizing process changes for companies that adopt the technology while also allowing them to deploy it at a gradual pace.
“For us, accelerating autonomous solutions means putting little cognitive load on enterprises that are deploying automation,” Hall said.
Another developer of autonomous terminal tractors is Fernride, a Germany-based company that has been deploying its technology at container terminals and ports in Europe.
While organized labor in the United States is often resistant to increased automation, unions in Europe are “very friendly” toward this technology because it can help relieve pressure on strained operations in the supply chain, said Hendrik Kramer, Fernride’s co-founder and CEO.
Successful early deployments could go a long way toward building support and enthusiasm for autonomous vehicles.
Host Seth Clevenger and TT's Connor Wolf discuss CES 2025 and the emerging technologies that could push the trucking industry forward. Tune in above or by going to RoadSigns.ttnews.com.
“Let’s get started — to have an early win at the first site,” Kramer said. “And this is possible within months, not years.”
Several autonomous truck developers have been actively testing self-driving trucks on public highways in the United States for years, especially in Texas. While publicly stated timelines differ from one company to the next, these developers are now preparing to begin fully autonomous commercial operations with no one on board in the near future.
Aurora Innovation plans to reach that milestone in April, when it intends to remove the safety driver from an unmanned truck operating between Dallas and Houston.
Fully autonomous trucks are already transporting freight in private site operations.
In January, bulk carrier Atlas Energy Solutions announced it had begun hauling fracking proppant on private roads in the Permian Basin with two driverless trucks equipped with self-driving technology from Kodiak Robotics.
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