Trucking news and briefs for Monday, Jan. 27, 2020:
Autonomous developer Waymo, part of Google, to test unloaded truck tests in Texas
Waymo, the autonomous vehicle division of Google parent company Alphabet, plans to begin mapping Interstates in Texas and New Mexico this week in a lead up to testing its self-driving semis.
The company’s Chrysler Pacificas will be trailed by its big rigs, which won’t be loaded with freight and will have a driver on board, in and around major cities like El Paso, Dallas and Houston.
“These are interesting and promising commercial routes,” Waymo said in a tweet Thursday, “and we’ll be using our vehicles to explore how the Waymo Driver might be able to create new transportation solutions.”
Waymo earlier this month claimed to have logged 20 million miles of public testing with its autonomous cars.
Transflo adds video platform
The Transflo provider of mobile, telematics and business process automation solutions has added the AI-12 Dual Facing Dashcam product as part of its Mobile+ suite of digital and telematics solutions for fleets and drivers. The video platform’s Surfsight dashcam provides video visibility and insight into fleet performance and challenging situations on the road, helping reduce risk and insurance claims. Integrated with Transflo’s telematics platform, the cloud-connected dashcam uses front-facing and cabin-facing cameras, with built-in artificial intelligence, Transflo says, to detect hazards on the road, infrared to recognize driver distractions in the vehicle and give feedback to the driver.
Managers, Transflo says, can review video of groups or individual vehicles via a customizeable and secure online dashboard using a web browser running on any type of device. Surfsight also provides access to on-demand video retrieval and review on the company’s cloud platform.
