Torc Robotics and C.R. England (CCJ Top 250, No. 29) announced a partnership Tuesday to pilot Torc’s fleet of autonomous trucks.
The collaboration will serve as an expansion for Torc, a Daimler Truck subsidiary, to support carriers in the refrigerated freight market. The joint pilot will leverage C.R. England’s temperature-controlled loads and Torc’s fleet of long-haul Level 4 autonomous test trucks.
“Torc is thrilled to be partnering with C.R. England to better improve long-haul trucking safety for one of the premium service providers and largest refrigerated carriers in the nation,” said Torc CEO Peter Vaughan Schmidt. “The data derived from the pilot will contribute to our safety and validation efforts and use cases for autonomous trucking.”
[Related: Ride impressions of a Torc autonomous truck]
Reefer carriers like C.R. England are an ideal match for autonomy, Vaughn said, since they make up a large segment of the industry and they’re delivering perishable items that need to get to market as soon as possible. Since autonomous trucks do not need to stop for mandatory driver breaks, they can make better time and help improve the bottom line.
