Technology meets logistics full-time: Einride's autonomous trucks in Selmer, Tennessee.

In a significant milestone for the future of freight transport, the Swedish company Einride has seamlessly transitioned from vision to reality with its driverless T-pod truck. Originally introduced in 2017, this electric autonomous vehicle received approval from the NHTSA for use on public roads last year and has now commenced daily operations in Selmer, Tennessee.

Einride's strategic partnership with GE Appliances propels this groundbreaking project forward, building upon successful pilots conducted within the secure confines of GE's headquarters in Kentucky in 2021. The pioneering electric truck is now actively transporting finished goods between a GE manufacturing facility in Selmer and a nearby warehouse, covering a distance of 0.3 miles (0.48 km). This involves seven trips along a private road every Monday through Thursday. After loading, Einride's vehicle autonomously navigates to the warehouse for self-docking and unloading, all supervised by a remote operator through a private communication network provided by Ericsson.

"We are immensely proud to collaborate with GEA and take the lead in providing autonomous technology and implementing it in the most robust commercial applications today. We look forward to continuing this work to establish the pivotal role of autonomous technology in the transportation sector, both with GEA and other partners across diverse markets," states Henrik Green, General Manager, Autonomous Technologies at Einride.

Even GE Appliances Senior Director of Central Materials, Harry Chase, expressed the significance of the partnership with Einride in Selmer, stating:

"Our partnership with Einride in Selmer reflects our evolved perspective on robotics and automation technology. We are transitioning from implementing individual solutions for various challenges to creating interoperability between systems that can build consistency and streamline processes in our factories and throughout our supply chain. This implementation in Selmer helps us reduce emissions, allows our employees to focus on high-value tasks, reduces traffic in congested areas to create a safer work environment, and eliminates some of the most challenging ergonomic tasks, such as climbing on and off a forklift and coupling and uncoupling trailers. We believe that robotics and automation technology should collaborate with and enhance human work to improve their job tasks," states Chase.

Source: Einride