Robot Trucks Are Seeking Inroads Into Freight Business

Transport operators Ryder System Inc., NFI Industries Inc. and the U.S. supply-chain arm of German logistics giant Deutsche Post AG are working with Ike Robotics Inc., a San Francisco-based startup that plans to offer its automated trucking technology through a software subscription model. Those fleets, along with others whose names the startup didn't disclose, are collectively reserving the first 1,000 heavy-duty trucks powered by Ike's technology, the companies said Tuesday. Top news and in-depth analysis on the world of logistics, from supply chain to transport and technology. New Jersey-based NFI, whose services include port trucking and intermodal truck-rail transport, is evaluating how autonomous trucks would integrate with its dedicated trucking operations moving freight from customers' warehouses to retail stores. Self-driving big rigs could handle longer highway portions of those regional runs, such as the 250-mile trip between the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Houston, said NFI President Ike Brown.