ISEE, a leader in autonomous vehicle technology for transportation and logistics, announced yesterday the world’s first commercial fleet deployment of autonomous yard trucks at a Fortune 100 customer’s site. This cutting-edge deployment located in Texas, represents a transition from pilots and testing to the commercialization of autonomous yard trucks and ushers in a new era of safety, efficiency, and capacity for the supply chain.
The autonomous truck yard represents a significant milestone in the advancement of transportation logistics. By harnessing the power of AI, machine learning, and computer vision, ISEE has created and deployed a fully autonomous system that streamlines the yard movement of trailers and containers to reduce costs, improve safety, and give companies staffing predictability amidst ongoing labour shortages.
The deployment at the 1.7 million square foot distribution centre, with 750 trailer staging bays, is the first of its kind using a fleet of autonomous yard trucks with the ability to operate across all shifts, day and night, rain or shine.
“This campus is the first facility to commercially deploy a fleet of fully autonomous yard trucks. It validates that ISEE is leading the industry in autonomous yard truck technology,” said Yibiao Zhao, ISEE CEO and Co-founder.
“Recognizing revenue from a Fortune 100 customer for their full-facility deployment is only the beginning. We have a strong pipeline that we are excited to share when the moment is right,” said Debbie Yu, Co-founder of ISEE.
Key benefits and features of the autonomous truck yard include:
Enhanced Safety: The US National Safety Council reports that transportation and warehousing have the highest rate of worker injury of all occupations, and being struck by equipment is one of the most common causes. By eliminating the potential for human error, the autonomous truck yard can dramatically reduce accidents and collisions. ISEE uses cutting-edge sensor technologies and advanced algorithms to ensure that every movement is executed with precision and caution.
New Capacity: The American Trucking Association reports the US will be short 160 thousand truck drivers by the end of this decade. This ongoing workforce shortage is straining the supply chain and the economy. The autonomous yard trucks help provide additional driving capacity, and let facility managers rest easy knowing they don’t have to worry about filling driver shifts each day.
Seamless Integration: The autonomous truck yard seamlessly integrates with the existing Yard Management System, Warehouse Management System and facility operations with no additional infrastructure needed. The facility operator continues to use their systems to request material moves across the facility. ISEE’s system seamlessly dispatches autonomous yard trucks to fulfil those customer requests.
Workforce Development: As we embrace automation, ISEE remains committed to nurturing a skilled workforce. The deployment of the autonomous truck yard presents new opportunities for training and upskilling transportation workers to manage and maintain new systems, ensuring they can thrive in the evolving transportation landscape.
