The Postal Service is experimenting with self-driving long-haul semi trucks to transport mail between distribution centers. The U.S. Postal Service is testing its first long-haul self-driving delivery truck in a two-week pilot program that will use an autonomous tractor-trailer to deliver mail between distribution centers in Phoenix and Dallas. TuSimple, a self-driving truck company, is providing the vehicle and will have a safety engineer and driver in the cab to monitor its performance and take control if there are any issues, the company said in announcing the test Tuesday. The Postal Service has been exploring the idea for some time, recently soliciting bids to put semi-autonomous mail trucks on the road in a few years that allow a human to sort the mail while being autonomously driven along the route. "We are conducting research and testing as part of our efforts to operate a future class of vehicles which will incorporate new technology to accommodate a diverse mail mix, enhance safety, improve service, reduce emissions, and produce operational savings," said Postal Service spokeswoman Kim Frum.

Uber is patenting technology it hopes will keep riders entertained during their commutes. Two of their patent applications, which have not yet been approved, hint at the concept of self-driving cars equipped with virtual reality technology, Motherboard reports. The applications are both called'Virtual Reality Experience For a Vehicle' and were filed in 2016. The United States Patent and Trademark Office published them in February. Uber is trying to get virtual reality technology used in self-driving cars patented.

Waymo pioneered self-driving cars; now it's playing catch-up on self-driving trucks. Or is it already in the lead there, too? The self-driving car company, formerly part of Google and now owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet, announced Friday that it will start testing self-driving semitrucks on Atlanta highways next week. The big rigs, made by Peterbilt, will carry cargo bound for Google's data centers, the company said in a blog post. A human driver will be behind the wheel even as the car's software pilots it.