The world’s first commercial shipment by a self-driving truck was completed by Otto and Anheuser-Busch by delivering a full load of Budweiser beer.
The autonomous truck drive over 193km from Fort Collins, Colorado to Denver, Colorado Springs to deliver the brew. Although there was no human intervention, a truck driver was monitoring the vehicle’s every move from the sleeper berth and a police cruiser followed behind.
Driver fatigue is a very real threat to safety on roads worldwide and with this in mind, Otto developed its self-driving technology to offer truck drivers the opportunity to rest during long stretches of tedious highway driving.
After the successful delivery, Otto’s co-founder Lior Ron said “The incredible success of this pilot shipment is an example of what is possible when you deploy self-driving technology.”
Otto is currently working with Uber to further develop advanced self-driving technologies.