A CHINESE startup with powerful backing plans to test a fleet of self-driving trucks in Arizona and Shanghai next year, competing with Uber Technologies Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo in transforming the way goods are delivered.

Haulage is ripe for disruption by automation because the industry faces a growing shortage of drivers and transporting cargo between fixed points is less complicated than city driving, said Chen Mo, 33, co-founder and chief executive officer of Beijing-based Tusimple, which is backed by Sina Corp., operator of China’s biggest microblogging site.

Self-driving trucks could cut logistics costs by 40 percent in the United States and 25 percent in China as they can run longer than human-piloted rigs without rest and save at least 10 percent on fuel, Chen said. They could also improve safety, especially in China, where trucks kill about 25,000 people a year, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

“It’s natural for us to start the business simultaneously as both countries feature a trucker shortage and huge cargo transportation demand,” Chen said. “China’s trucking industry is costly, inefficient and dangerous” and Tusimple’s technology “can reduce the casualty rate to 25 percent of the current level.”

The startup plans to order 60 to 100 specially retrofitted trucks for the tests from a U.S. truckmaker and China’s Shaanxi Heavy Duty Motor Co. The vehicles will have 10 cameras, three radars and a control system to analyze traffic conditions.

(SD-Agencies)