• Waymo, the autonomous vehicle arm of Google, has entered into a long-term strategic partnership with Uber Freight, Uber’s online freight matching solution for carriers and shippers, to haul loads between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.

• During the first phase of the partnership—expected to happen this year, Waymo will deploy a test fleet of trucks retrofitted with Waymo Driver autonomous software onto the Uber Freight network. Waymo will act as the carrier offering autonomous trucks for shippers on the Uber Freight marketplace.

• In the long run, Waymo plans to offer its technology on a driver-as-a-service (DaaS) basis, where carriers can purchase trucks powered by the Waymo Driver.

• Google’s self-driving tech arm Waymo focuses on both goods and passenger transportation. “Waymo Via” is dedicated to autonomous cargo transportation, including trucking, and its vehicles are powered by “Waymo Driver,” its autonomous driving technology platform.

• Uber Freight provides a mobile application that connects truck drivers with shipping companies across the US and Canada. The company operates a carrier network available around the clock, offering live shipment tracking and fast quote generation facilities for shippers. For carriers, it offers smart load suggestions, ratings and reviews of shipping facilities, mobile proof of delivery (POD) submissions, etc. The company serves both full truckload (FTL) and less-than-truckload (LTL) markets.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: Today’s news adds to Waymo’s growing list of similar autonomous trucking pilots that involve companies such as J.B. Hunt (June 2021; extended in January 2022), UPS (November 2021), and CH Robinson (February 2021) to haul goods between Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth. For Uber Freight too, this marks the second partnership with an autonomous trucking company, following its first with Aurora Innovation in December for a similar pilot to haul goods between Dallas and Houston, Texas.</ul>