2021 was a watershed year for Waymo Via when it came to deep industry collaboration, and 2022 will be no different. Starting the year off strong, we’re expanding our relationship with J.B. Hunt and entering into a long-term, strategic alliance to commercialize autonomous driving technology for trucking transportation together. This builds on the great success we shared with our initial trial runs in 2021 and the extraordinary relationship we have with their team already.
As part of this agreement, we intend for J.B. Hunt to be Waymo Via’s first launch customer for freight movement when we deploy fully autonomous operations in Texas in the next few years. We’ll expand on the success of our most recent pilot, with a number of additional autonomous delivery efforts planned together to prepare for these fully autonomous operations. We’ll also continue to conduct joint operational and market studies as we chart the commercial success of our autonomous driving technology and J.B. Hunt’s operations, and later on, we’ll explore a technology integration with J.B. Hunt and J.B. Hunt 360.
J.B. Hunt is a strong and expert collaborator in shaping our Waymo Via solution and bringing autonomous driving technology to market for them and their customers, and we believe that J.B. Hunt’s commitment to innovation will positively impact their market leadership. We look forward to continuing to advance these efforts as well as launch additional pilots in Texas in the coming months.
“Our collaboration with J.B. Hunt in 2021 was incredibly fruitful. Establishing this strategic alliance marks an exciting moment for our relationship, and more importantly, paves the way for us both to help grow the foundations for successful deployment and to capitalize on the benefits of autonomous driving technology. We’re incredibly grateful for our relationship with J.B. Hunt and their shared vision for the safety and efficiency benefits we can bring to the industry at a critical time.”
“Our pilot last year with Waymo Via really helped us get a hands-on understanding of how autonomous driving technology could be implemented within our operations. This strategic alliance will continue that momentum and further explore the intricate details that would make this a value-driven solution for customers. We believe autonomous driving technology will help us create the most efficient transportation network in North America, and our collaboration with Waymo Via is a pivotal step towards fulfilling that mission.”
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