Aurora Innovation, Inc. and FedEx Corp. announced the expansion of their pilot program to autonomously move FedEx shipments on an additional commercial lane in Texas.

In March 2022, Aurora’s next-generation autonomous trucks – based on the new Peterbilt 579 – began to transport FedEx shipments between Aurora’s new terminals in Fort Worth and El Paso. Aurora is making the 600-mile trip on a weekly basis with safety drivers on board and expects to increase the frequency of trips in the coming months. Aurora continues to move shipments for FedEx between Aurora’s South Dallas terminal and its new Houston terminal on a daily basis.

Progress and momentum: FedEx and Aurora pilot snapshot

• Since the commercial pilot began in September 2021, Aurora’s deliveries of FedEx shipments between Dallas and Houston have been 100% on time.
• With each trip, the Aurora Driver (Aurora’s self-driving technology product) is providing thousands of FedEx customers with packages that were autonomously transported.
• Aurora moves trailers for FedEx during various weather conditions and all hours of the day and night, optimizing fleet utilization.
• Aurora completed daily hauls during the 2021 peak Holiday season, the busiest time of year for FedEx.
• To date, the companies have completed 60,000 miles with zero safety incidents.

Aurora’s performance throughout this pilot demonstrates the value proposition autonomous trucking offers for transportation and logistics providers as Aurora works toward the commercial launch of its autonomous trucks. In light of the headwinds facing the logistics industry – ranging from increasing demand for the quick transportation of shipments to a challenging labor market – the Aurora Driver, when integrated into existing linehaul operations, has potential to provide a reliable, efficient linehaul solution to help address such industry concerns.

“Innovation is in our DNA – our culture drives us to think radically and differently, finding new ways to use technology to enhance safety, improve our operations, empower our team members and help our customers succeed,” said Rebecca Yeung, Corporate Vice President, Operations Science & Advanced Technology, FedEx Corporation. “Aurora has been a like-minded collaborator, helping us learn from and grow our autonomous trucking solutions. We look forward to our continued work together as we test further integration of autonomous technology into our operations to build a collaborative, robust network of solutions to respond to growing customer demand.”

“Some time ago, I was asked why the general public should care about autonomous trucking. This is why. In six months of working with FedEx, we’ve safely, reliably, and efficiently transported packages for tens of thousands of FedEx customers,” said Sterling Anderson, Aurora Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer. “This lane expansion came ahead of schedule and we’re delighted to continue building the future of trucking with one of the country’s biggest and most important transportation companies.”

DFDS & primeRail signed an agreement to become one company as DFDS acquires the German rail operator company. The acquisition strengthens DFDS’ rail offerings and is a testament to DFDS’ ambition to find sustainable ways to continue providing reliable and valuable services. The acquisition also marks the launch of a new Rail business area in DFDS.

primeRail operates continental and maritime transport logistics concepts in a combination of rail and road and was founded in 2019. In 2020, DFDS launched a new “Intermodal Transport Competence Center” in Cologne, in partnership with primeRail, to provide intermodal solutions for DFDS customers.

The acquisition is an important step to realizing our large ambitions within intermodality by combining ferry and rail transportation. Peder Gellert Pedersen, Executive Vice President and Head of Ferry Division at DFDS, says:

“For DFDS, this is an important strategic step. We have been looking for the right partners with the same value set and commercial orientation as DFDS. primerRail fulfills this, and it is, therefore, a perfect match. We connect our ports by rail to inland terminals. Thereby offering a smooth and environment-friendly transport network to the benefit of our customers and society.”

New DFDS Business Unit Rail

primeRail will operate as a new business area Rail in DFDS covering primeRail and the existing DFDS intermodal business. The Rail business area is organised within the Mediterranean business unit and headed by Patrick Zilles, currently CEO of primeRail. As Vice President and Head of Rail, Patrick Zilles reports to Head of Mediterranean, Lars Hoffmann, who says:

“Since we acquired our Turkish route network in mid-2018, we have learned how much value train solutions can add to our business model and network. We extend our network, and with the increasing focus on green solutions, it’s a natural step to develop our train set-up further. We have since 2018 doubled our number of weekly trains; it is, therefore, natural to take the next step. We see an increasing demand for rail transport combined with our ferry routes and logistics services. Partnering with primeRail allows us to offer additional intermodal solutions. Customers can drop off units at our terminals in Turkey and pick them up in Europe very close to the end destinations.”

Founder and CEO of primeRail Patrick Zilles stated: “I am proud that after successful cooperation with DFDS, primeRail will now become an important part of one of the leading ferry networks in Europe. primeRail will be integrated into DFDS, maximising mobility with cost-effective and innovative intermodal transport solutions.”

The complete integration of primeRail into DFDS is expected to be completed within the year.

Descartes Systems Group, the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced that it has acquired Foxtrot, a leading provider of machine learning-based mobile route execution solutions.

Foxtrot’s advanced machine learning algorithms leverage millions of data points collected from vehicles in the field, helping customers reduce last-mile costs, improve customer service and learn service factors that improve route efficiency and on-time performance. The company’s technology complements existing route planning and execution solutions.

“Descartes has been a leader in using advanced technology to extend its world-class route planning and execution solutions for more than 20 years,” said Ken Wood, EVP of Product Management at Descartes. “Advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning are making it possible for us to leverage increasing amounts of ‘real world data’ to better inform our route planning and execution solutions. By combining with Foxtrot, we’re adding a team with deep domain expertise and proven technology that will help accelerate our efforts in this area.”

“Foxtrot enhances our recent investment in GreenMile, as both companies have extensive experience in the retail food and beverage distribution vertical,” said Edward J Ryan, Descartes’ CEO. “We also see an immediate opportunity to leverage Foxtrot’s capabilities across our wider route planning and execution solution suite. We’re thrilled to welcome the Foxtrot employees, customers and partners into the Descartes family.”

Foxtrot is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Descartes acquired Foxtrot for approximately $US 4.0 million, satisfied from cash on hand.

Descartes is the global leader in providing on-demand, software-as-a-service solutions focused on improving the productivity, performance and security of logistics-intensive businesses.