US autonomous driving company TuSimple has released the initial results of a telematics study it conducted, analyzing the safety performance of its fully autonomous (SAE Level 4) trucking technology compared with manually driven trucks.
Utilizing telematics data processed by Fleet Nav Systems powered by Geotab, a specialist in IoT and connected transportation, TuSimple analyzed autonomous miles driven by its technology and compared the data with a benchmark rate of critical driving events per 100 miles driven by humans, in the same vehicle types and vehicle vocation at other trucking companies.
The telematics data measured industry standard critical driving events, such as harsh acceleration, braking and cornering, which can be considered leading indicators for unsafe driving with the potential to increase the risk and frequency of accidents.
The California-headquartered TuSimple notes that data was collected across a variety of conditions, including day, night, rain and extreme heat, as well as on highways and surface streets and says that the initial results from a 10-week sample, analyzing 80,000 miles of journeys, demonstrate a significant reduction in industry standard harsh driving events by its autonomous driving technology relative to benchmark rates and human-operated driving.
Study highlights include:
| Event Type | Number of events per 100 miles (TuSimple Autonomous Technology) |
Number of events per 100 miles (Industry Human-Operated Driving) |
| Harsh Braking | 0-0.02 | 0.08-0.10 |
| Harsh Acceleration | 0.11-0.16 | 0.99-1.06 |
| Harsh Cornering | 0.04-0.10 | 1.18-1.89 |
“By leveraging Geotab’s rich aggregated telematics data sets, we were able to provide real-world insights for a variety of driving scenarios to make a fair comparison between TuSimple’s autonomous driving safety performance and human drivers operating under the same conditions,” said Joy Bailer, chief engineer at Fleet Nav Systems. “Being able to provide reliable data in this type of study is vital to better understanding the significance of self-driving trucking technology.”
“We’re incredibly excited about the initial study results and the potential for TuSimple’s technology to provide a new standard for safety for the trucking industry,” added Jim Mullen, chief administrative officer for TuSimple.
“We believe building and validating the safest and most efficient driver will save lives and truly transform our industry. Carriers rightfully cherish their multimillion-mile drivers, and TuSimple’s technology is designed to provide an even higher level of safety across our fleet partners.”