U.S. truck fleet operator J.B. Hunt Transport Providers and Alphabet Inc’s self-driving unit Waymo are increasing their alliance to deploy absolutely autonomous trucking operations in Texas within the subsequent few years, the businesses mentioned on Friday.

In June final 12 months, the businesses started testing self-driving vehicles, with a driver and a technician supervising, to ship cargo between Houston and Fort Price in Texas.

The businesses mentioned their prolonged collaboration consists of analyzing the operational capability of Waymo Through, which covers trucking to last-mile deliveries, to deal with buyer wants.

J.B. Hunt additionally mentioned it might discover a technological integration with Waymo, through which Waymo Through can be made accessible on its digital market J.B. Hunt 360.

Though Waymo and different corporations have been creating autonomous driver expertise for greater than a decade, large-scale industrial operations of such companies for shifting freight or on a regular basis commuting haven’t come to fruition but.

U.S. trucking and supply corporations are already battling driver shortages, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, troublesome working situations and an ageing workforce.