Waymo and Uber Partner to Deploy Self-Driving Trucks at Scale

It's easy to think of self-driving cars as the main battleground for autonomy. Certainly, that aspect of pilotless vehicles has gotten the most attention over the past five years or so, with companies like Waymo and Argo and Cruise generally leading the way. However, it's autonomous trucking that has the potential to really shake up the transportation industry. Today that technology is taking a big step towards mainstream.

Waymo Via, the trucking division of the former Google Self Driving Car project, and Uber Freight are today announcing a partnership. Waymo is developing the autonomous technology collectively known as the Waymo Driver, which will eventually allow semi-trucks to drive themselves. Uber Freight, meanwhile, is designed to apply the Uber mindset to the freight industry, making it easier for shippers to connect directly to independent carriers.

Uber was once working on its own autonomous platform, once hailed as the magic bullet that would turn the financial tides for the chronically unprofitable company. However, the tragic death of a pedestrian in 2018, struck by one of Uber's test vehicles, effectively ended that program. (The remains of the division were sold to Aurora in 2020.)

While this partnership is very much in the research and development side for now, in the future, carriers who are using the Waymo Driver in their fleets will be able to automatically deploy those trucks within Uber Freight. This'll mean shipping cargo autonomously with just a few clicks. The exact scale of this agreement remains to be seen, but Waymo mentions reserving "billions of miles" of shipping capacity for Uber Freight.

Autonomous solutions like this could not only increase capacity for shippers but also safety while decreasing fuel consumption. And, it's probably coming sooner than you think; Waymo Via already partnered with UPS to help with the holiday rush last year.