Virginia-based Torc Robotics, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, is entering 2025 with a revamped growth strategy focused on building out an autonomous hub in Texas while expanding its software footprint in Michigan. The expansion did come with a cost, namely the loss of the original testing location in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and its technology hub in Stuttgart, Germany, which are winding down during the first half of 2025.
Andrew Culhane, chief commercial officer at Torc Robotics, said in the release: “The Albuquerque and Stuttgart locations were critical for our development phases, as we tested on New Mexico highways and developed specifications for our product in Stuttgart. As we shift focus to testing on our launch lane from DFW to Laredo and developing a world-class team, we need to locate our resources in the areas that align with our future plans and lay the foundation for scaling the business to our customers’ needs,”
The company also recently announced it had signed a leasing agreement for a facility that will serve as Torc’s autonomous truck hub in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This location is part of Torc’s autonomous testing and customer freight pilots, ahead of plans for full commercialization in 2027.
One reason Dallas-Forth Worth was chosen was its proximity to Laredo, Texas, a major freight route located along Interstate 35. The release notes, “Laredo is the largest economic port of entry in the US, with more than 15,000 truck crossings per day and $320B in total trade last year, opening up a prime opportunity for Torc’s growth.” Part of the expansion comes from a recent milestone last October, when Torc Robotics successfully completed a test of its autonomous truck without a driver in a multilane closed course. The test operated at speeds up to 65 mph with a Daimler Truck Freightliner Cascadia.
Amazon goes Old World for new electric trucks
(Photo: Mercedes-Benz Trucks/Amazon)
Amazon recently placed an order for 200 new eActros600 trucks from Mercedes-Benz Trucks, adding to the 38 electric heavy goods vehicles (eHGVs) in operation in Europe. This is the largest order placed by Amazon and the largest order received for Mercedes-Benz Trucks.
For the eHGV itself, a little nomenclature is required to understand how it differs from its longer cousin, the North American Class 8 tractor. For American readers, the first thing one notices about the eActros 600 is that it’s a cabover engine (COE), less common on U.S. roads today due to trucking regulation changes in this country.
For Mercedes-Benz Trucks, the eActros 600 boasts a high-capacity battery of over 600 kilowatt-hours, hence the name. The in-house-developed drive axle enables the truck to achieve a range of 310 miles (500 kilometers) without immediate charging. In terms of payload, the eActros 600 can haul a standard European 22-ton trailer – approximately 44,000 pounds,
The eActros 600 weighs approximately 26,000 pounds or 11.7 metric tons and has a higher gross combined weight (GCW) of 88,000 pounds compared to the maximum GCW of a U.S. battery-electric Class 8 of 82,000 pounds. You get the extra 2,000 pounds on top of the 80,000 pounds on U.S. roads courtesy of the Department of Energy.
One bottleneck that Europe and the U.S. share when looking to electrify their fleets is the lack of available charging infrastructure. In the case of the U.K., The Guardian reports that as of last summer, there were just 300 electric eHGVs in the over-500,000-strong lorry [truck] fleet, with only one public charging point.
Aurora sues FMCSA after agency denies roadside warning exemption request
(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)
Autonomous truck maker Aurora Innovation Inc. is suing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration after the agency denied its request for a five-year exemption from the placement of roadside warning devices in favor of cab-mounted warning beacons (CMWBs). The filing submitted on Jan. 10 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit says the ruling is unlawful, “because it is arbitrary, capricious, [and] an abuse of discretion and otherwise not in accordance with law.”
The crux of the legal issue is whether the CMWBs “achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety that would be achieved absent the exemption.” Existing regulations say that if a driver of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) is stopped on the shoulder of a road for any reason other than a necessary traffic stop, the driver must activate hazard warning signal flashers and place required warning devices as soon as possible but within no more than 10 minutes at specified locations behind and in front of the CMV.
Aurora argues that the data it provided “far exceeds what FMCSA has admitted about the agency’s existing requirements: FMCSA has ‘never conducted experimental research on the impact of using’ the currently-mandated human-placed warning devices, and it is ‘historically unresolved’ whether ‘the use of such [driver-placed] devices improves traffic.’”
Despite the FMCSA’s denying Auroa’s request due to a lack of data, the agency decided to look at the issue itself with an experimental study to determine whether CMWBs significantly influence “crash-relevant aspects of human performance” around stopped CMVs.
The recent denial is not expected to impact Aurora’s launch of its driverless trucks in April, nor will it prevent it from complying with existing regulations.
Briefly noted …
The Commerce Departmentfinalized a rule restricting products from Russia and China from U.S. automotive supply chains. Trucking Dive reports, “The ban targets automotive technology with wireless capabilities and limits importers and manufacturers regarding software and hardware on vehicles under 10,000 pounds.” While trucking is exempt for now, industry observers expect rulemaking for heavier commercial vehicles in the future.
The withdrawal of the California Air Resources Board’s request for an Environmental Protection Agency waiver on the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule creates significant uncertainty for electric trucks in California. Without the waiver, the mandate requiring zero-emission vehicles in the state’s drayage registry starting Jan. 1, 2024, is not enforced, delaying the transition to electric fleets. Although the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule remains active with an EPA waiver, the absence of the ACF mandate may slow the overall electrification efforts within California’s trucking sector.
