U.S. Post Office Testing Driverless Trucks Between 2 Cities

The United States Postal Service is going to put mail on self-driving trucks.
Starting on Tuesday morning, letters and packages moving between Phoenix and Dallas will travel on customized Petteril trucks run by TuSimple, an autonomous start-up based in San Diego. There will be five round trips between the two cites, with the first haul leaving from Phoenix this morning. It’s the first time that the Postal Service has contracted with an autonomous provider for long-haul service. This pilot is just one of many ways the Postal Service is innovating and investing in its future,” the USPS said in a press release that cited the possibility of using “a future class of vehicles” to improve service, reduce emissions and save money. After the initial trial, which is expected to last about two weeks, the Postal Service will assess whether to continue working with TuSimple.Two years ago, the USPS Office of Inspector General outlined a step-by-step approach for the adoption of autonomous vehicles, and then earlier this year put out a request for ideas on using autonomous technology in its delivery fleet. While self-driving mail trucks are still years-if not decades-away, autonomous long-haul trucking might be realistic much sooner.