Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Waabi have started hauling freight for Warp on the Dallas-Houston corridor, the first customer operation in their partnership. The Volvo VNL Autonomous trucks run Waabi’s driving software and deliver freight directly to third-party facilities. The hauls run with an observer in the driver’s seat.
Warp runs less-than-truckload and full-truckload freight through more than 70 cross-docks. It lists Walmart, DoorDash and Gopuff among its customers, per FreightWaves. The operation brings autonomous trucks into an LTL network, where freight from multiple customers is consolidated and moved between facilities.
Waabi COO Lior Ron said a driverless truck could run consolidated LTL networks “on a continuous basis without hours of service,” avoiding the federal limit of 11 hours of driving after 10 hours off duty. Waabi has also cut the time needed to open a new lane from three months to three weeks, Ron said.
Volvo and Waabi will use the Dallas-Houston operation to prepare for additional routes and scale their autonomous freight network. Ron said Waabi is ready to go driverless but is choosing to wait for the factory-built Volvo truck rather than retrofit one. He expects driverless runs next year.
