Waymo self-driving rigs to haul Google cargo

San Francisco: Google-owned Waymo said that its self-driving trucks will haul cargo bound for the internet giant´s data centers in Georgia.

Rival Uber made a similar announcement earlier this week, saying it is using self-driving semi trucks to augment human-driven rigs in its on-demand trucking service in the US state of Arizona.

Waymo driverless trucks will go to work in the Atlanta area Monday as part of a pilot program intended to help integrate autonomous big rigs with the operations of shippers, ports, terminals, factories, and distribution centers, according to the company.

"Our software is learning to drive big rigs in much the same way a human driver would after years of driving passenger cars," Waymo said in an online post.

"The principles are the same, but things like braking, turning, and blind spots are different with a fully-loaded truck and trailer."

Human drivers will be on board Waymo trucks to take control if needed. Waymo for years has been testing self-driving cars, racing against smartphone-summoned ride star Uber, whose trucking service uses humans to pick up cargo from Uber Freight customers and drive it in trailers to transfer hubs.

There, the trailers are hitched onto self-driving trucks for long highway hauls, according to the San Francisco-based company.

The self-driving vehicles head to transfer hubs close to their destinations, where the trailers are connected back onto human-steered rigs to complete their journeys.

Uber has been testing self-driving truck technology since 2016, and began using autonomous rigs for hauls late last year.