Daimler Trucks and Torc Robotics have announced that their automated trucks have begun operating on highways in southwest Virginia.

During these operations, an engineer oversees the system. A highly trained safety driver with a commercial driver’s license that has been specially trained in vehicle dynamics and automated systems, and has been certified by Daimler Trucks and Torc Robotics, is also a part of these operations. 

Before hitting the road, the trucks underwent months of extensive testing and safety validation on a closed loop track. The companies note that as part of their comprehensive safety process, both test track and on-road validation “play an integral role in establishing the essential building blocks for successfully advancing automated technology.”

“Torc Robotics is a leader in automated driving technology. Daimler Trucks is the market leader in trucks and we understand the needs of the industry,” says Martin Daum, member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Trucks & Buses.

“Bringing Level 4 trucks to the public roads is a major step toward our goal to deliver reliable and safe trucks for the benefits of our customers, our economies and society.”

Earlier this year, Daimler Trucks acquired a majority stake in Torc Robotics, which is headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia. Torc is now a part of Daimler Trucks’ newly established Autonomous Technology Group. 

“Being part of Daimler Trucks is the start of a new chapter for Torc,” says Michael Fleming, CEO of Torc Robotics.

“Our whole team is thrilled to be working alongside our Daimler colleagues as we pursue the commercialization of Level 4 trucks to bring this technology to the market because we strongly believe it can save lives.”

Daimler notes that Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) will focus on continuing to evolve automated driving technology and vehicle integration for heavy-duty trucks. The DTNA team is working on a truck chassis that is built for highly automated driving, particularly the redundancy of systems needed to provide reliability and safety.

“As we pair Daimler's expertise in building safe and reliable trucks with Torc's genius in engineering Level 4 vehicles, we have no doubt we will do great things in the future,” says Roger Nielsen, president and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America LLC.

“We look forward to writing history together. The U.S. highways are the perfect place to develop automated driving technology.”

DTNA is within the Autonomous Technology Group, and it is also building an infrastructure that is needed for the operational testing of initial application cases. This is made up of main control center and logistics hubs. The hubs are located along high density freight corridors where a number of customers operate and within close proximity of interstates and highways.