Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany / Portland, Oregon, USA / Blacksburg, Virginia, USA - Torc Robotics, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck and a pioneer in self-driving vehicle technology, recently announced that it has successfully completed advanced validation of their driverless trucks in a multi-lane closed course environment in Texas, US.
Conducted at full operating speed of up to 65 mph, the product acceptance test underscores Torc's progress in autonomous driving capabilities and prepares the company to be able to scale and commercialize safe, robust autonomous trucking solutions by 2027. Unlike a demo, this milestone highlights Torc’s entry into scalable product release, with their applied artificial intelligence technology, system architecture, production-intent embedded hardware, and safety engineering converging to shape a product that prioritizes true software best practices and safer roadways for all.
This product validation milestone exemplifies Torc’s commitment to rigorous safety and maturity standards, marking a critical step from advanced engineering and development to full productization on a unified, embedded platform.
Joanna Buttler, Head of Autonomous Technology Group at Daimler Truck, says: “The autonomous-ready Freightliner Cascadia with redundant safety features is an industry-first and lays the foundation for autonomous driving. Achieving driver-out capability on closed course is an outstanding team achievement of the Torc and Daimler Truck teams. It demonstrates the progress and integrated development toward making autonomous trucking at scale a reality.”
“This is a key moment in our mission to build a profitable, scalable business as the world’s leading autonomous solution,” commented CEO Peter Vaughan Schmidt. “We observed impressive reliability in our repeated driverless runs, which leveraged Torc’s unparalleled embedded and integrated platform on Daimler Truck’s Freightliner Cascadia. We look forward to unlocking the full value of autonomous driving software for customers who prioritize safety, operations costs, ease of use and reliability.”
Achieving the ability to run a truck without a safety driver in the cab is a significant milestone in the commercialization of autonomous driving. So far, Daimler Truck and Torc have tested and developed autonomous driving with a safety driver and an operator on board. Their task is to constantly monitor the truck during all operations and be ready to take over from the autonomous driver at any time. Daimler Truck and Torc have proven that Torc’s autonomous driving software can safely navigate on highways, surface streets, ramps and turns at controlled intersections.
About Torc Robotics
Torc Robotics, headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia, is an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, a global leader and pioneer in trucking. Founded in 2005 at the birth of the self-driving vehicle revolution, Torc has over 19 years of experience in pioneering safety-critical, self-driving applications. Torc offers a complete self-driving vehicle software and integration solution and is currently focusing on commercializing autonomous trucks for long-haul applications in the U.S. Torc operates test facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and engineering offices in Austin, Texas; Stuttgart, Germany; and Montreal, Canada. Torc’s purpose is driving the future of freight with autonomous technology. As the world’s leading autonomous trucking solution, we empower exceptional employees, deliver a focused, hub-to-hub autonomous truck product, and provide our customers with the safest, most reliable, and cost-efficient solution to the market.
Contact Daimler Truck:
Anja Weinert, +1 669 6001478, anja.weinert@daimlertruck.com
Paul Mandaiker, +49 176 30 999 267, paul.mandaiker@daimlertruck.com
Contact Torc:
Laura Lawton, +1 408 505 5820, laura.lawton@torc.ai
Further information on Daimler Truck: newsroom.daimlertruck.com and www.daimlertruck.com
Forward-looking statements
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Daimler Truck at a glance
Daimler Truck Holding AG (“Daimler Truck”) is one of the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturers, with over 40 main locations and more than 100,000 employees around the globe. The founders of Daimler Truck invented the modern transportation industry with their trucks and buses a good 125 years ago. Unchanged to this day, the company’s aspirations are dedicated to one purpose: Daimler Truck works for all who keep the world moving. Its customers enable people to be mobile and get goods to their destinations reliably, on time, and safely. Daimler Truck provides the technologies, products, and services for them to do so. This also applies to the transformation to CO2-neutral driving. The company is striving to make sustainable transport a success, with profound technological knowledge and a clear view of its customers’ needs. Daimler Truck’s business activities are structured in five reporting segments: Trucks North America (TN) with the truck brands Freightliner and Western Star and the school bus brand Thomas Built Buses. Trucks Asia (TA) with the FUSO, BharatBenz and RIZON commercial vehicle brands. Mercedes-Benz (MB) with the truck brand of the same name. Daimler Buses (DB) with the Mercedes-Benz and Setra bus brands. Daimler Truck’s Financial Services business (DTFS) constitutes the fifth segment, the product range in the truck segments includes light, medium and heavy trucks for long-distance, distribution and construction traffic and special-purpose vehicles used in the municipal and vocational sector. The product range of the bus segment includes city buses, school buses and intercity buses, coaches and bus chassis. In addition to the sale of new and used commercial vehicles, the company also offers aftersales services and connectivity solutions.
