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TFI advances toward autonomous semi rollout for U.S. LTL unit
CFO sees wider expansion, trucking landscape remodeling
Key Takeaways:
- TFI International plans to deploy autonomous trucks in its U.S. less-than-truckload linehaul business in 2027, CFO David Saperstein told analysts July 27.
- Saperstein said autonomous trucks could boost operating hours and fuel efficiency as TFI's LTL shipments rose 7.5% year over year to 1.97 million.
- TFI is working with an undisclosed developer and plans broader deployment if tests succeed, while Saperstein said the technology could spur industry consolidation.
TFI International envisions rolling out autonomous trucks as part of its U.S. less-than-truckload linehaul business in 2027 and expanding utilization of the tractors elsewhere in its operations if those plans progress successfully, according to a key executive.
And down the road, TFI Chief Financial Officer David Saperstein expects the scaling up of autonomous trucking to alter the freight market landscape, encouraging mergers between the largest trucking companies.
Montreal-based TFI ranks No. 6 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America. Its LTL unit ranks No. 8, while its truckload unit ranks No. 3.
The majority of TFI’s LTL operations encompasses the unionized TForce Freight fleet in the United States. The unit also includes a Canadian LTL segment.
Shipments by TFI’s LTL unit rose 7.5% to 1.97 million in the second quarter of 2026 from 1.83 million in Q2 2025.
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TFI is working with an undisclosed autonomous truck developer, Saperstein told analysts during the carrier’s Q2 earnings call after the market closed July 27, as the technology improved a lot faster than the executive and his peers expected.
“We’ll be owning some of this technology next year; we’ll just see how quickly we can scale it. Too hard to say right now how quickly,” said Saperstein. “If it works, we’ll roll it out beyond the linehaul in the LTL. There’s tons of applications of this for us.”
The executive lauded the benefits of introducing autonomous trucks, noting the ability to operate for many more hours than a human driver and with greater fuel efficiency. In addition, driver turnover would be minimized, the one-time investment banker said.
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Saperstein
Among self-driving truck developers, 2027 was already shaping up to be a pivotal year, with Aurora Innovation, PlusAI and Torc Robotics all set to ramp up operations to commercial scale in 2027. In addition, self-driving passenger vehicles pioneer Tesla is also promising to become part of the supply equation.
Saperstein said the proliferation of autonomous trucks at scale has the potential to transform the for-hire truckload and LTL landscape.
“It’s extremely interesting to think about as this gets rolled out broadly through our industry, what that means for consolidation among the well-capitalized [carriers],” the executive said. “I think that what it means is that you’re going to have a lot more consolidation and large capitalized players who can afford this technology are going to be dominating it. Trucking probably looks a little bit more like the rail in that way.”
