Daimler Truck delivers latest AV truck platform to Torc Robotics

Daimler Truck North America has begun delivering its latest on-highway trucks to Torc Robotics, a subsidiary of Daimler Truck, for testing. The trucks are based on the Fifth Generation Freightliner Cascadia, which came out in 2024.

“Delivering the latest iteration of our autonomous-ready vehicle platform, including production-intent autonomy hardware to Torc, marks a significant milestone for Daimler Truck towards series maturity and scaling,” said Joanna Buttler, head of Autonomous Technology Group at Daimler Truck.

The Freightliner Cascadia platform includes over 1,500 engineering requirements to enable SAE Level 4 autonomous driving, according to the company, such as a second set of electronically controlled systems and an integrated power network. Daimler also installed the essential computing and sensor kits for autonomous driving during vehicle production for easier virtual driver integration upon delivery.

Next, Torc will test Daimler’s newest trucks on routes in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona, as well as on a new lane in Texas between Laredo and Dallas on I-35. Torc will base testing for the trucks out of a new autonomous hub in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which will also house customer freight pilots and future commercialization.

"Our strong collaboration with Daimler Truck represents six years of success in advancing the future of freight,” said Peter Vaughan Schmidt, CEO of Torc. “Fully integrating Torc’s autonomous driver with Daimler Truck’s Freightliner Cascadia platform creates an industry-first, scalable, physical-AI autonomous trucking solution.”

The two companies plan to continue developing autonomous trucks to safely achieve driver-out capability on public roads, with the goal to enter the U.S. market with SAE Level 4 autonomous trucks by 2027.