In 2020, Waymo partnered with Daimler Truck to develop a redundant, level-4-autonomous-ready truck platform powered by the Waymo Driver. In the coming weeks, the company will begin testing these autonomous Freightliner Cascadias on public freeways across Dallas and Phoenix. The testing will make use of Waymo’s recently opened trucking facility in Dallas, a transfer hub that is an early endpoint of its driverless route. According to officials, it’s the first custom-designed hub of this type designed for deploying autonomous trucks.

Waymo and Daimler Truck North America shared some insights with reporters in a virtual briefing Aug. 23, including the fact that these redundant systems will need more power and add some weight to the trucks.