C.H. Robinson, Waymo Via Partner to Advance Autonomous Trucks

February 16, 2022

C.H. Robinson, a global logistics company, has formed a long-term strategic partnership with Waymo Via, the trucking and local delivery unit of autonomous driving company Waymo. The partnership will mutually explore the practical application of autonomous driving in logistics and supply chains, by combining Waymo’s technology, Waymo Driver, with C.H. Robinson’s Navisphere logistics platform.

Initially the collaboration will focus on multiple pilots in the Dallas-to-Houston transportation lane, with Waymo Via autonomous trucks hauling C.H. Robinson’s customer freight. During and after the pilots, the companies said they will collaborate to shape the future development and expansion of autonomous driving technology as an additional transportation solution. The goal is to provide much-needed capacity, help improve carrier and driver experiences, and address business challenges posed by long-term driver shortages.

“We are excited to partner with Waymo Via to explore how autonomous driving technology can help bring increased capacity and sustainability into our logistics strategies,” said Chris O’Brien, chief commercial officer at C.H. Robinson. “Together, we are going to harness this emerging freight technology and its potential on behalf of customers and carriers. We believe there is a real opportunity to bring our scale and information advantage to bear to help develop transportation solutions for them and their ability to participate and benefit from autonomous vehicles.”

“We look forward to this collaboration with C.H. Robinson, both for their deep roots and experience in logistics and transportation, but also as a company that shares our vision of how technology and autonomous trucking can change our industry for the better,” said Charlie Jatt, head of commercialization for trucking at Waymo. “C.H. Robinson’s size, scale and platform gives us access to rich and unique transportation data along with customer relationships and pilot opportunities to help bring our Waymo Via solution to the market.”

Several autonomous driving companies have recently teamed up with carriers or logistics companies, including:

• Aurora and U.S. Xpress
• J.B. Hunt and Waymo Via
• DHL and TuSimple
• TuSimple and Union Pacific Railroad
• Ryder and Embark Trucks

For more details on the Waymo Via division, visit its website here.