TheTrucker.com

NHTSA approves driverless ‘Pod’ truck to travel on US public roadways

Reading Time: < 1 minute
NHTSA approves driverless ‘Pod’ truck to travel on US public roadways
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has approved a request from Einride, the maker of a remote-driven truck, known as a "Pod," to operate on U.S. public roadways. (Courtesy: Einride)

WASHINGTON — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has approved a request from Einride, the maker of a remote-driven truck, known as a “Pod,” to operate on U.S. public roadways.

Einride will use the approval to operate a pilot program for its customer General Electric, a news release stated.

The Einride Pod has no area for a driver and is instead operated by the Remote Pod Operator.

According to Einride, NHTSA’s approval is an industry-first pilot program for this type of vehicle.

The pilot program will allow the company to move goods and coordinate with teams at various warehouses for loading and unloading.

“This is a type of vehicle that has never before been seen on U.S. roads and marks a major milestone as a turning point for the future of the freight industry,” Robert Falck, Einride’s CEO and founder, said in a statement. “We know the autonomous and electric technology of our pod will not only revolutionize transportation but also create thousands of jobs and help America stay competitive.”

An Einride Remote Pod Operator will remotely monitor the Einride Pod at all times.

According to the company, this type of remote monitoring is “a first-of-its-kind that Einride sees critical in safely scaling autonomous vehicles by keeping humans in the loop and creating jobs to fulfill a future way of shipping.”

The Einride Pod public road pilot will being in the third quarter of this year. Although an exact location has not been announced, Einride said the pilot program will be done at a GE Appliances manufacturing facility.

Stockholm, Sweden-based Einride, founded in 2016, is a freight technology company providing digital, electric and autonomous shipping.

Einride became the first company to deploy an autonomous, electric freight vehicle on a public road in 2019.

The Trucker News Staff

The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Avatar for The Trucker News Staff
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
For over 30 years, the objective of The Trucker editorial team has been to produce content focused on truck drivers that is relevant, objective and engaging. After reading this article, feel free to leave a comment about this article or the topics covered in this article for the author or the other readers to enjoy. Let them know what you think! We always enjoy hearing from our readers.

COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE