TuSimple and Navistar end development agreement

TuSimple and Navistar announced an end to their co-development under a 2020 agreement.

The decision to end the development agreement does not preclude the companies from working together in the future, according to a news release.

“Navistar believes autonomous driving technologies will be a key component of a future transportation and logistics system and is committed to the development of a safe and efficient autonomous driving solution,” Navistar Vice President Srinivas Gowda said in a statement.

“I decided to return as TuSimple’s CEO to address the challenges ahead and to set us on a path to long term stability,” TuSimple CEO Cheng Lu said in a statement. “We have proven our technology works, and I’m committed to addressing the concerns of stakeholders. I firmly believe in this company and its ability to improve the safety and efficiency of the trucking industry through world-class autonomous driving technology.”

TuSimple has been making headlines the past year.

In August, Austin Dicker, on behalf of other TuSimple investors, filed a lawsuit against the company in a Southern California federal court. The lawsuit stems from an incident involving a Level 4 truck that sent stock prices down by about 10%.

In a video obtained by Land Line, a TuSimple Level 4 truck is seen veering into a highway median, nearly striking nearby vehicles. The incident was part of TuSimple’s testing of its Level 4 autonomous trucks. In the video, a test driver is seen reaching over to activate the truck’s autonomous functions. Immediately, the truck jerks to the left, striking a median.

Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Jim Mullen, the former acting administrator and chief counsel for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, announced he will be leaving TuSimple. Mullen was the chief legal and administrative officer at TuSimple. His resignation went into effect on Sept. 30.

In December 2021, TuSimple “completed the world’s first fully autonomous semi-truck run on open public roads without a human in the vehicle and without human intervention,” according to a news release. The 80-mile, one-hour and 20-minute drive began in Tucson, Ariz., and ended in Phoenix.

TuSimple claimed that was the first time a Class 8 truck had operated on open public roads without human intervention. In an unedited video of the entire trip, no one can be seen inside the truck. According to TuSimple, the driving test was 100% operated by TuSimple’s Autonomous Driving System without a human on board, without remote human control of the vehicle, and without traffic intervention. LL