Torc Joins PAVE’s Autonomous Trucking Weekend at the Texas State Fair

The Texas State Fair, held annually in Dallas, is one of the largest and most famous state fairs in the U.S. It’s been held since 1886, making it over 135 years old. It was originally established to showcase the agricultural and industrial progress of Texas. And this year, the industrial progress included a corral of autonomous trucks.

Invited by PAVE to join a collaborative Autonomous Trucking Weekend on October 5th and 6th, Torc joined Aurora and Plus in showcasing our truck and answering questions of fairgoers about the self-driving future.

“The Texas economy is a powerhouse. Industry brings good technology to where the opportunity is,” says Walter Grigg, Torc’s director of industry partnerships. “The state of Texas has been very friendly and welcoming, and the public has been very friendly and welcoming.”

Over the course of the event, all of the companies and PAVE representatives took questions from the public, discussing how self-driving fleets will help reshape the trucking industry. Attendees left with new information and a better understanding of how autonomous trucks will fit into a larger more robust shipping landscape. In a follow-up attendee survey conducted by PAVE, only 14% of respondents reported their comfort level as “uncomfortable” with sharing the road with autonomous trucks, and 38% rated their comfort as 4-5 on a 5-point scale, 5 being the most comfortable. Additionally, most saw improved road safety by the elimination of human error, and fewer crashes due to driver fatigue, as positives to the adoption of autonomous trucking.

“We appreciate that our testing is a privilege, all of our companies, on public roads. The focus on safety never goes away but you’ve definitely seen — even if you’ve not known it — you’ve seen autonomous trucks. And you’ll see more of them,” says Walter.