J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. announced a long-term, strategic alliance with Waymo Via that will advance innovative efforts to integrate commercial autonomous driving technology in transportation and logistics, with ultimate plans to complete fully autonomous transport in Texas in the next few years. The expanded collaboration will include multiple pilots to further analyze the operational capacity of Waymo Via, the company's autonomous Class 8 trucking unit powered by the Waymo Driver, to address customer needs in realistic scenarios. Waymo and J.B. Hunt completed their first trial runs last year moving freight along I-45 in Texas for one of J.B. Hunt's leading customers.

The upcoming pilots will take place in the same lane. Beyond the highway, the two will explore solutions that merge two of the most innovative forces in the transportation industry - autonomous driving technology and the digital marketplace. J.B. Hunt's technology platform - J.B. Hunt 360°® - is an industry leader in digital freight matching and was responsible for processing 1.2 million loads in 2020.

Waymo has over a decade of experience in building autonomous driving technology, having driven over 20 million miles on public roads across 13+ U.S. states and 20 billion miles in simulation. The combined solution, which would make Waymo Via accessible through J.B. Hunt 360, would be a unique offering with potential to greatly improve transportation efficiency. Additionally, the collaboration will include operational and market studies to refine the commercial readiness of the driving technology.