Daimler Debuts Self-Driving Truck in Nevada

Daimler AG has unveiled its first self-driving highway truck, the Freightliner Inspiration, and declared it licensed and ready to take to the roads of Nevada.

Nevada has granted a permit to operate not just test the truck on public roads in the state. The vehicle will carry a driver.

Daimler board member Wolfgang Bernhard, who oversees the company's commercial truck and bus unit, notes that big commercial trucks spend most of their time on highways. He notes that expressway traffic conditions are relatively simple compared to urban areas: surrounding traffic moves at about the same speed and in the same direction with no stop lights or cross traffic.

The system in Daimler's truck is built to handle the monotony of long-haul transport. A driver would still operate the vehicle over regular streets to and from distribution centers.

Daimler has said it will introduce a Mercedes-Benz car with robotic driving capabilities by 2020. But it agrees with other experts that the first broad applications of autonomous driving systems is likely to be in highway trucks.

The company says it unveiled the robotic truck in Nevada because European markets have been slow to permit such vehicles. Bernhard notes that long-haul trucks won't achieve full value until they are permitted under multiple states allow them.