This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com.
By Stephen McBride
Dairy giant Land O’Lakes recently made history. It hired a Silicon Valley startup to deliver 20 tons of butter across America by truck. The 2,800 mile drive from California to Philadelphia took over 40 hours.
And here’s the kicker: the 18-wheeler drove itself the whole way! A safety driver sat along for the ride, but he didn’t have to put his hands on the wheel once. This was the first time a self-driving semi delivered goods for a paying customer.
A few weeks ago, 60 Minutes did a special on driverless trucks. The camera crew travelled to a warehouse in the heart of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. Inside sat a fleet of 40 new, shiny self-driving 18-wheelers. Those big rigs belong to TuSimple, a robotruck startup valued at $1 billion.
Delivery giant UPS recently hired TuSimple to haul parcels