Global logistics company C.H. Robinson and Waymo Via, the trucking and local delivery unit of autonomous driving technology company Waymo, have formed a long-term strategic partnership to mutually explore the practical application of autonomous driving technology in logistics and supply chains. The partnership combines the benefits of Waymo’s innovative autonomous driving technology, the Waymo Driver, with C.H. Robinson’s Navisphere technology, which is the world’s most-connected logistics platform.  

The collaboration will focus, initially, on running multiple pilots in the Dallas-Houston transportation lane, with Waymo Via autonomous trucks hauling C.H. Robinson’s customer freight. During and after the pilots, the companies will collaborate to shape the future development and expansion of autonomous driving technology as an additional transportation solution. This will provide much-needed capacity, help improve the carrier and driver experience and address the 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. Together, we are going to harness this emerging freight technology and its potential on behalf of customers and carriers,” said Chris O’Brien, chief commercial officer at C.H. Robinson. “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 in and benefit from AV. C.H. Robinson is also best positioned to represent the role of drivers and small and mid-size carriers in a more autonomous future.”

“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.”