Locomation, a trucking technology platform to offer human-guided autonomous convoying, announced a newly formed strategic relationship with Rush Enterprises, Inc., a commercial vehicle industry source for complete commercial vehicle solutions. Under the terms of the arrangement, Rush will become a primary installation and maintenance provider for Locomation’s autonomous technology as it rapidly scales adoption among large trucking fleets.
Central to the Locomation technology suite is the Autonomous Relay Convoy (ARCTM) platform, which allows one driver to pilot a lead truck equipped with technology augmentation while a follower truck operates in tandem through Locomation’s fully autonomous system. The two-vehicle, driver guided convoy system is a safe, responsible, and financially sustainable approach to deploying autonomous technology because Locomation technology continues to be validated by professional truck drivers while delivering twice the cargo two times farther and faster, the company says.
“Our strategic relationship with Rush Enterprises provides us with a significant boost to our commercial-focused trajectory,” said Dr. Çetin Meriçli, CEO and co-founder of Locomation. “We know that we can count on Rush’s entire team to bring the expertise and experience needed to quickly build out autonomous capabilities in entire fleets while maintaining industry-leading reliability and safety standards.”
“Advances in technology will continue to provide our commercial vehicle customers with new solutions to solve long-standing problems at a faster rate than we have ever seen,” said Rusty Rush, chairman, chief executive officer, and president of Rush Enterprises. “Autonomous technology for commercial vehicles continues to advance, and Locomation is developing an autonomous platform that appears to be a commercially viable approach for the trucking industry. We are excited to work with the Locomation team to install their autonomous technology into new vehicles and to offer service support through our network of Rush Truck Centers.”
