Plus launches national upfit program delivering Class 8 semi-autonomous Trucks within a day

Plus, a global provider of self-driving truck technology, announced today that it has selected Velociti, a global leader in fleet technology solutions, as the deployment and maintenance partner for the national Plus Build program. 

The Plus Build program takes less than a day to turn new and existing Class 8 freight trucks into semi-autonomous trucks by equipping them with state-of-the-art lidar, radar, and camera sensors and Plus’s proprietary autonomous driving software. The result is PlusDrive, the industry’s first commercially available autonomous trucking solution. PlusDrive improves safety, enhances driver comfort, and saves at least 10% in fuel costs. Installation is performed at locations most convenient to customers, in or near major transportation hubs across the U.S. Maintenance services are available nationwide by utilizing mobile resources to meet customers where they are.  

Shawn Kerrigan, COO and Co-founder of Plus, said: “Plus Build helps companies unlock the benefits of autonomous driving technology today by quickly modernizing trucks to improve their safety and uptime. Velociti’s unmatched technology installation and service network will help us get PlusDrive into the hands of more truck drivers across the country to make their jobs safer, easier, and better.”

Through the Plus Build program and partnership with Velociti, Plus is now deploying PlusDrive nationwide. Some of the world’s largest fleets and truck manufacturers are already participating in Plus Build and are operating PlusDrive-enabled trucks on the road today. In addition to Velociti’s technology installation services, Plus is implementing Velociti’s VeloCare solution, a flagship proactive system-health monitoring program including remote and mobile services to maximize technology uptime.

“Partnering with Plus to provide our services as an important part of the PlusDrive solution leverages Velociti’s decades of experience deploying and maintaining innovative fleet technologies. We are excited to enter into this strategic partnership to help PlusDrive customers realize the benefits this transformational technology brings to their businesses and to the transportation industry,” said Ryan Powell, Senior Vice President at Velociti.

Supervised by a truck operator, PlusDrive can autonomously handle the following in normal traffic conditions on a highway:

●      Lane centering

●      Driver initiated lane change

●      Traffic jam assist

●      Predictive fuel optimization

●      Adaptive cruise control (down to zero)

●      Lane merging

●      Driver attentiveness detection

●      Operational Design Domain (ODD) checker

●      Self-calibration

●      Over-the-air updates