Eden Prairie's C.H. Robinson entering self-driving truck market with Waymo partnership

Eden Prairie-based C.H. Robinson is pairing with Waymo — formerly the Google self-driving car project — to make autonomous trucks an option for its customers.

C.H. Robinson is the world's largest third-party logistics company, and its job has become harder in the past year as supply-chain bottlenecks caused delays for all sorts of companies. A shortage of truck drivers that existed before the pandemic was a major contributor to the problem.

C.H. Robinson and Mountain View, Calif.-based Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, announced Wednesday they would run pilot projects between Dallas and Houston that will use Waymo Via autonomous trucks, with a safety driver, carrying freight booked through C.H. Robinson.

"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," Charlie Jatt, head of commercialization for trucking at Waymo, said in a news release.

The Houston to Dallas trucking route is the busiest route in Texas and one of the busiest in the nation, and other autonomous-vehicle companies also have trucking projects going on between the two cities.

"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, in the release. "Together, we are going to harness this emerging freight technology and its potential on behalf of customers and carriers."

The American Trucking Association (ATA) estimates there was a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers in 2021 and that shortage is expected to double to 160,000 by 2030. The ATA estimates the industry will have to recruit 1 million drivers between now and 2030 to replace drivers who will be leaving the industry.

The trucking workforce is older, and many are retiring.

Companies across the U.S. have been increasing pay and adding benefits, both of which were barriers to recruitment. But still, it has been increasingly hard in a tight labor market to find truckers to take long-haul routes that leave them away from their families for days at a time.

C.H. Robinson and Waymo said they believe that autonomous technology can have a great effect on those long-haul routes.

When automated technology is fully developed, Waymo said it also can address safety concerns in the industry.

Crashes cost the trucking industry $30 billion a year, Jatt said.

"Our goal with our autonomous-driving technologies is to build on all the great safety advances that the trucking industry has already made to date, and improve these statistics by making every mile safer with the Waymo driver," Jatt said in a video conference with reporters.

Waymo Via takes the autonomous-driving technology and extends it to the challenges of Class 8 trucks, which are semitrailer trucks. These involve braking, cornering and lane changes.

Waymo, which has been developing the technology for a decade, does not want to own a fleet of trucks long-term. The business model includes selling technology, which can be added to trucks owned by medium- and small-sized carriers.

C.H. Robinson represents more than 85,000 carriers, most of whom are small to midsize trucking companies in North America. In further extensions of the partnership, O'Brien said C.H. Robinson may have more involvement in helping companies equip trucks with Waymo's technology.

Other self-driving technology companies also are moving into the trucking space, including Pittsburgh-based Aurora Innovation Inc., which expects to launch its trucking business in 2023. Aurora announced on Dec. 15 a partnership with Uber Freight on a multiphase commercial pilot project of their own.

In that pilot project, Aurora-powered trucks with vehicle operators have been running loads between Houston and Dallas with the most complex first mile/last mile portions being transferred to Uber Freight carriers.

Kodiak Robotics Inc., also based in Mountain View, Calif., has been using autonomous self-driving technology in Texas the last several years, also utilizing a combination of self-driving and manual trucks also utilizing on-board safety drivers who can take over control if needed.

"Big picture, when we've looked at this, we see a great opportunity, both in the near term and the long term for AV technology to make supply chains more efficient and sustainable," O'Brien told reporters in the video conference.