California-based startup Plus.ai claims to have completed a cross-country trip with a prototype autonomous truck. While a human backup driver and a safety engineer were onboard for the entire 2,800-mile trip, Plus.ai claims the truck was in autonomous mode most of the time. This wasn't just a test run, either: the truck hauled a refrigerated trailer loaded with cargo for Land O'Lakes. Perishable cargo gave Plus.ai an added incentive to ensure its tech worked. The company couldn't simply abort the trip, and a human driver taking over would have been a public relations nightmare.

A self-driving truck has completed the first cross-country commercial freight run. Plus.ai, announced its truck traveled 2,800 miles autonomously from California to Pennsylvania hauling a fully-loaded refrigerated trailer of perishable cargo. The vehicle is fitted with advanced autonomous driving system that utilizes multimodal sensor fusion, deep learning visual algorithms and simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM) technologies. The truck drove in autonomous mode across interstate 17 and interstate 70, while traveling through different terrains and weather conditions. Although a safety driver and engineer were on-board, this journey, according to Plus.ai, validates'the system's ability to safely handle a wide range of weather and road conditions.'