Waymo will transport goods in automated trucks with semi-trailers.

Waymo's self-driving cabs already operate in parts of Phoenix and San Francisco, and more U.S. cities will join this list in the near future. But along with Waymo's passenger service, the company is also developing a self-driving service for the delivery of goods.

Called Waymo Via, this delivery service is already partially operational, using Waymo's self-driving vans based on the Chrysler Pacifica. Now, Waymo is ready to add self-driving semi-trailer trucks. The Class 8 trucks to be used will be based on Peterbilts.

Over the next few weeks, the self-driving trucks will operate on a trial basis, transporting UPS goods between the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston hubs. The trial will be used to gather data, particularly in the areas of safety and efficiency. The data will be used to determine how the service can be scaled up.

Waymo has previously conducted a similar trial with transportation company J.B. Hunt. There is also a rival company named Otto, which previously tested self-driving trucks transporting goods; Otto was acquired by Uber in 2016 but was frozen two years later; Uber eventually sold its self-driving division to Aurora in 2020. [Waymo vehicles are controlled by a self-driving system called Waymo Driver. This system is ranked Level 4 on SAE's automated driving capability scale. Level 5 is the ultimate goal, which means that the automated driving system is as capable as a human.

Automated trucks, like cars, are enabled by radar, cameras, and lidar, but their demands are greater. Their mass, trailer articulation, and different driving characteristics must be considered.

CORRECTION: The article previously stated that the automated Class 8 trucks used in the tests are based on the Freightliner Cascadia.