Ryder System and Waymo Via, the trucking and local delivery unit of leading autonomous driving developer Waymo, have announced a partnership focused on providing maintenance for Class 8 autonomous trucks, aiming to maximise vehicle up-time and ensure the reliability required to scale operations nationwide.
Ryder will be providing maintenance services and roadside assistance for Waymo Via’s Class 8 autonomous trucks in five states initially, with sights set on scaling operations nationwide, according to Ryder.
With a growing fleet and geographical footprint, Waymo Via is said to require a scalable solution for truck maintenance and Ryder has a network of more than 500 maintenance facilities in the US, according to the company. The two companies will partner on servicing and evolving maintenance practices for autonomously driven trucks across Waymo Via sites in Texas, Arizona, California, Michigan, and Ohio, as well as roadside service between hubs.
“While this partnership initially focuses on fleet maintenance, we see many opportunities to collaborate on autonomous trucking operations in order to successfully deploy these trucks at scale,” said Karen Jones, Chief Marketing Officer and Head of New Product Development for Ryder. “Already, we’ve collaborated on the layout and design of Waymo’s new Dallas facility to ensure it’s optimised for serviceability of trucks and for the transfer hub model they plan to pursue in the near future. Autonomous Class 8 technology is quickly taking hold, and Ryder is poised to become a leader – not only in servicing trucks but also in managing the unique logistics of autonomous operations.”
“As we continue to scale our autonomous trucking operations, we couldn’t have found a better partner than Ryder,” said Charlie Jatt, Head of Commercialisation for Waymo Via trucking. “There are many synergies between our Waymo Via vision and operations and Ryder’s expertise and resources, and we look forward to unlocking best-in-class solutions within the industry and bringing autonomously driven trucks to market throughout the US”.
Source: Ryder
