Torc Robotics Expecting to Deploy Driverless Trucks on Highways by 2026

Torc Robotics, based in Blacksburg, Virginia, plans to begin removing drivers from its long-haul autonomous trucks on public roads in Texas by late 2026. Nick Elder, Torc's VP of Commercialization, stated that the company aims to ensure the autonomous technology can be delivered at scale.

“When we talk about initial deployments, we’re going to be looking at one or two or three lanes, and then we’re going to expand over a larger geographic region,” Elder said.

Deployment Timeline and Initial Focus

The lane of development will focus on a major lane along Interstate 35, for example between Dallas-Fort Worth and Laredo, with plans to expand geographically after initial tests.

Technological and Geographic Expansion

The company expects to be ready for a product launch in 2026, "with scalable market entry in 2027," the company said in August 2023. Torc, a subsidiary of Daimler Truck, has been piloting its technology with partners in the southwestern U.S., including Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Torc's autonomous driving technology integrates pre-programmed parameters and artificial intelligence.

Founded in 2005, Torc gained early recognition in a 2007 DARPA driverless car challenge (placing third).

“That gained us some visibility that we basically parlayed into working with folks who were kind of the early adopters,” Elder said.

Partnerships and Acquisitions

In 2019, Daimler Truck acquired a majority stake in this business and in 2023, Torc acquired Algolux, a Montréal-based vision detection software company, to enhance its technology, particularly under challenging weather conditions. Daimler highlighted this acquisition as crucial for the market launch of autonomous trucks stating the technology "will help to further expand one of the most important technical capabilities for the market launch of autonomous trucks."

Time will tell what the future holds when it pertains to driverless trucks. No doubt, road safety will be on the minds of many car owners who will share the road with these vehicles. And with no drivers driving the trucks, what will that mean for the freight drivers who earn their living by, well...driving. We shall see.

Source: TruckingDive