SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco startup company Otto completed the very first commercial shipment by a driverless truck on October 20.
The truck delivered 2,000 cases of Budweiser beer from Anheuser-Busch’s brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado to Colorado Springs.
The truck driver was away from the wheel for the entire 120-mile trip on the interstate. The driver monitored the progress of the delivery and was prepared to assist if there were any problems.
According to Forbes, Otto co-founders Lior Ron and Anthony Levandowski, started the company in January after leaving Google. Levandowski was a member of Google’s self-driving car group and Ron worked with the company’s mapping team.
Otto was bought by Uber in August for a reported $680 million.