Einride, a freight mobility company that provides digital, electric and autonomous technology, said it is deploying full-time operations with its autonomous vehicle. The operations, in partnership with GE Appliances, a Haier company, mark an important step in the integration of autonomous transportation supporting full-time commercial flows, Einride said.
The daily transport of finished goods takes place between GE Appliances’ manufacturing facility and warehouse in Selmer, TN, Monday through Thursday, enabling up to seven shuttles a day, producing zero tailpipe emissions through the autonomous operation and showcasing how Einride’s freight capacity as a service (FaaS) model can be enabled with autonomous vehicles, the company said. This long-term deployment follows previous pilots done in collaboration with GE Appliances, first in a gated environment at the company’s Appliance Park headquarters in 2021, followed by the first public road pilot in the US for a purpose-built autonomous, electric truck without a driver on board in Selmer in 2022.
Einride said autonomous vehicle deployment is part of a larger project in Selmer to create an automated logistics flow that improves employee ergonomics and safety around the loading docks and increases efficiency. Additional GE Appliances’ partners include TaskWatch and Slip Robotics. TaskWatch’s AI cameras trigger a control board to raise and lower the dock doors and dock plate, locking the Einride autonomous vehicle into place and notifying the Slip robot that the autonomous vehicle is ready for loading. The Slip then autonomously loads and unloads the vehicle, reducing loading times by 80%. Einride’s connectivity partner Ericsson provided the private network to ensure reliable communication between the vehicle and the remote operator on site. Tiffany Heathcott, the first remote operator hired by Einride, is onsite to monitor the vehicle.
