The pilot places factory-built autonomous trucks into active freight operations, allowing them to evaluate performance in real-world conditions instead of controlled testing environments.
The roughly 600-mile route between Laredo and Temple follows one of the busiest trade corridors in Texas and serves as a key artery for cross-border commerce. That corridor feeds directly into Port Laredo, the nation's top-ranked port for total trade.
Laredo, the nation's busiest inland port, handles hundreds of billions of dollars in trade each year, much of it moving north along Interstate 35. That volume and consistency have made the region a focal point for logistics investment and testing.
Those conditions — high traffic, established infrastructure and long, predictable routes — make corridors like Laredo to Temple a practical testing ground for autonomous trucking systems.
Within that environment, trucks on the route handle about 92% of the driving using a system powered by artificial intelligence, cameras, radar and lidar sensors, with autonomous driving software developed by PlusAI.
A human safety driver remains in the cab at all times to monitor the vehicle and take control if needed.
"Operating an autonomous vehicle in an active logistics network allows us to validate the technology where it matters most — on a real lane, moving real freight, for a real customer," said Seth deVlugt, senior director of RyderVentures and new product strategy at Ryder.
Unlike earlier testing models, however, the trucks operate using existing Ryder facilities without dedicated autonomous terminals and focus on point-to-point freight movement between established locations rather than closed-loop or isolated test routes.
"We're focused on integrating autonomous technology into existing operations without adding complexity," said James Cooper, head of Autonomous Solutions at International.
He said the system itself is built into the trucks at the factory rather than added later and can be updated over time through software, allowing performance and capabilities to improve as more data is collected.
That approach aligns with the effort's focus on long-haul, "hub-to-hub" highway driving — where conditions are more consistent than in city traffic — a model International Motors and Ryder describe as one of the most practical early uses for autonomous systems.
So far, early results from the program show all deliveries arriving on time, along with improved fuel efficiency and pre-trip inspections averaging under 30 minutes, according to International Motors and Ryder.
More broadly, the program is part of a push across the freight industry to move autonomous technology from limited trials into regular use, particularly along major highway corridors in Texas and the southern United States.
©2026 the Laredo Morning Times, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
