Growth and Relentless Focus: Setting Up 2025 to Realize Long-Term Success

by Alex Mesa | Nov 21, 2024 | Careers, Featured, Productization, Strategy

Torc has begun successful advanced validation of our autonomous trucks without a driver in a multi-lane closed-course environment.

As our team continues to drive the future of freight and push strongly into the productization phase of our development cycle, Torc is building out new teams in both the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) area at our new autonomous hub location and Ann Arbor, Michigan, a hotbed of experienced software talent.

The need for highly skilled workers in the fields of AI, machine learning, simulation, systems engineering, and data analysis has skyrocketed and Torc’s existing fully remote employee base in Michigan underscores its commitment to fostering a technology workforce capable of supporting revolutionary change in logistics and freight transportation. Additionally, Torc is shifting focus to Dallas/Fort Worth to realize our commercialization strategy timeline as we prepare to go live on our first launch lane between DFW and Laredo.

“Torc continues to be in a period of growth and reinvestment, while consistently evolving the business at a rapid pace,” says Andrew Culhane, Chief Commercial Officer. “We’re being deliberate about where we spend our time, energy, and resources as we move from the R&D and advanced engineering phases of our development lifecycle, and into the productization phase.”

2025 location strategy

To create growth in the right areas and to attract the right talent, we need to strategically build our workforce in locations that best support our commercial business needs in the U.S. To that end, we are winding down and transferring operations and facilities from our original testing location in Albuquerque, New Mexico and technology hub in Stuttgart, Germany during the first half of 2025. Torc will be shifting many of its Albuquerque resources to Dallas and starting a hiring push there and in Ann Arbor, hiring over 100 positions in each location over the coming months.

“The Albuquerque and Stuttgart locations were critical for our development phases, as we tested on New Mexico highways and developed specifications for our product in Stuttgart. As we shift focus to testing on our launch lane from DFW to Laredo and developing a world-class team, we need to locate our resources in the areas that align with our future plans and lay the foundation for scaling the business to our customers’ needs,” says Culhane.

MICHIGAN

Interested in joining the Torc team in Michigan now? We ask that all interested applicants first fill out the General Interest Application – Engineering Talent form to pre-screen for roles in specific, needed sectors. If we think you may be a good fit for Torc, we’ll be in contact. We’re offering roles such as:

Software Engineers (C++, Python, ROS, Linux, SIL)
Embedded Engineers (NVIDIA, Ethernet, CUDA, GPU Optimization)
Automotive Software Engineers (AUTOSAR BSW (Base Software), Embedded C, Vector tools.)
Machine Learning Engineers (PyTorch, TensorRT and OpenCV)
DevOps Engineers (AWS)
Engineering Leadership

“We’ve set our sights on Ann Arbor because of its proximity to Detroit automotive and high-tech talent, and it makes good sense for our productization strategy to be in the Ann Arbor area as we grow and reinvest in our business,” says Meghan Juanarena, Director of Talent Acquisition at Torc. “We are also looking forward to tapping further into one of the nation’s top 10 robotics programs at the University of Michigan.”

Attendees interested in automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and software development will find roles that align with their skills and ambitions.

As part of the Daimler Truck family, we’re laser-focused on developing self-driving technology specifically for the Freightliner Cascadia, a challenge with unique obstacles and immense potential to boost our supply chains and keep our roads safer. This event is part of Torc’s larger commitment to building a team of talented, innovative individuals who are passionate about bringing the next generation of autonomous solutions to the road.

A Product Release, Not a Demo: Why Torc’s Autonomous Product Release v0.1 Was ‘The Next Step’

by Kiley Mitchell Thompson | Nov 13, 2024 | Featured, Technology

As Torc Robotics nears its 20th year of operations in 2025, it has achieved an incredible milestone: a fully self-driving product release validation. More than just a demo, this milestone manifests the hard-won lessons behind Torc’s R&D, advanced engineering, artificial intelligence, machine learning, software best practices, and operational excellence. But if you look past the dramatic images of no human behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler moving at 65mph, it represents a powerful step forward toward an efficient and sustainable freight system that will reshape our supply chain… and you also have a rather standard production stage step.

The autonomous drive without a human driver was a straightforward, product milestone. Additionally important, it marked the critical next step from Torc’s advanced engineering phase to productization on a unified, embedded platform. Not a bolt-on solution, Torc’s integrated Freightliner Cascadia is autonomous-ready, creating more efficient, profitable way to move freight across middle mile routes.

The productization stage of any development process is meant to prove that a product was built correctly, in both reference to customer pain points and needs, and in our case, using automotive and software best practices to create a road-worthy product. Every software you’ve ever used or product you’ve ever bought has likely had some form of product validation stage. In our self-driving truck validation, we need to address the fact that the community needs a safe vehicle for the long-haul journeys wherein a human driver is unavailable. Therefore, our truck must be able to drive on its own. So, our product validation was more than just a demo – it was real time, real speed proof that the software can do what it’s supposed to do, as well as a demonstration of what this technology can do for our customers and our communities.

Amazon originally started as just an online bookstore in the mid-1990s. Jeff Bezos wanted to create “an everything store” but knew that the first step to a full-scale productization needed a controlled, narrow focus. He chose books because they were easily sourced and shippable from specific warehouses, and introduced a simple online storefront. Through this product validation, Amazon was then able to work on logistics, customer service, and online services.

The Torc product management team is quick to point out that this milestone wasn’t a demonstration but simply a stage in a product release lifecycle, marking the next stage of product maturity. “All software needs to have this step to be created,” says Sheila Scanlon, Vice President of Product Management. “You don’t release software until it’s passed all the tests, and while this test was amazing to see, it was a product validation event. This release ties completely back to our product roadmap with a subset of the end features being fully tested and verified, but no software release is ever the ‘final’ release. It’s just like your cell phone: It’s constantly getting upgrades, as will our software.”

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two PhD students, had the software know-how to create a better and faster search algorithm. They tested on a small controlled, gated data pool at first, Stanford University’s computer network, as their first product validation. After positive feedback and expansion, that search algorithm eventually became Google.

The company’s applied and responsible artificial intelligence (AI) applications, system architecture, production-intent embedded hardware, and directing safety engineering all joined up to get the truck on the road autonomously. From this point until market entry, Torc is working on fully vetted, tested, and traceable software. Our product validation stage is just one chapter in a much longer story.

“This product is never going to be done. This was one step. We’re continuing to build upon the product capabilities and features, with every additional release until our version 1.0 release, which will be available early 2027,” says Scanlon. “It’s a subset of the feature complete. It’s always going to be growing and expanding. New sensors and hardware will be created, and we’ll have better and better capabilities and more and more features, which will allow us to expand our ODD or expand the roads.”

At Torc, we’re targeting initial use cases across the southern United States for our first commercial product launch, scheduled for 2027. Our product validation event has proven that our first leg of freight, in Texas, is a feasible and achievable use case for our technology. As we develop new features and unlock new routes, our self-driving semis will become a powerhouse of safe, efficient, and easy freight.

Women of Vision: Torc’s Veteran Community

by Torc | Nov 13, 2024 | People Ops, Featured

Our Torc community is built on doing the right thing for our communities, our families, and our world at large. Whether we’re working on our technology or speaking to our freight partners, our foundation remains the same: we exist to create a better tomorrow.

Creating that better tomorrow requires vision, purpose, and planning. As we pursue our goal of creating a faster, more efficient supply chain, we look to people like our Torc veterans. Their visionary ability to assess a situation, create an action plan, and execute it quickly and safely is unmeasured – especially when it comes to these two Torc’rs: Andrea Colley and Melissa Ugalde.

From Air Force to Autonomy: Andrea Colley

Andrea Colley, Autonomous Vehicle Safety Officer with Fleet Safety at Torc Robotics, enlisted in the United States Air Force as an Air Traffic Controller at 22 years old, from 1985 to 1990. From navigating busy runways to directing international and domestic traffic, Andrea earned her Air Force wings in countless complex scenarios.

“I saw some beautiful countries and met some incredible people,” Andrea says about her time in the Air Force. “We hosted these exercises called Cope Thunder with militaries around the world: Israel, Singapore, the Philippines, The United Kingdom, and Australia all brought their jets in – which, as an Air Traffic Controller, creates a lot of unique harrowing experiences and situations.”

While Andrea initially started her military journey at the Clark Airbase in the Philippines, she finished out her career at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

“[My time in the Air Force] really tested my fortitude and my ability to sequence and control multiple aircraft with different flight characteristics and capabilities,” she added. “While being an Air Traffic Controller seems like it’s just making sure take-off and landing go smoothly, you also have to communicate a ton of information quickly and efficiently in high stakes situations.”

At Torc, Andera’s Air Traffic Controller skills have been invaluable. As part of the Fleet Test and Safety team, her job includes managing the departure and return trips of our autonomous trucking fleet. Whether our test trucks are operating with an In-Vehicle Fallback Safety Driver behind the self-driving wheel or carrying out our validation tests, Andrea is a key part of ensuring our driverless semi-trucks can carry out their middle-mile goals.

She’s also an integral part of making sure our tactics surrounding hub operation are safe, efficient, and secure for our freight partners and customers:

“[In the Air Force] We fortunately had 100 years of aviation history to fall back on and help us develop our policies and procedures and safety culture and the way we go about doing things,” Andrea noted. “At Torc, we’re developing that methodology for driverless trucks. We must proceed with caution, which is what you have to do when you are flying. It doesn’t matter if you’re in aviation or trucking, the approach is the same. If you’re working on a mission, you have to know your equipment is reliable so you can actually focus on the mission at hand.”

Torc recently completed a successful product validation drive wherein our automated truck drove autonomously on a closed course without a single instance of human intervention. Bolstered by artificial intelligence algorithms for self-driving and talented professionals like Andera, our technology is currently proving its reliability and safety via rigorous advanced engineering and testing.

From the Marines to Marketing: Melissa Ugalde

Melissa Ugalde, public relations intern with Marketing and Communications at Torc Robotics, enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as a public affairs specialist and videographer at 18 years old. From recording recruiting content to assisting with executive speeches, Melissa produced incredible results for the Marine community across multiple verticals. Over the course of the four years she spent at Camp Pendleton, respectively, Melissa rose through the ranks to earn the title of corporal.

“I joined to serve my country,” Melissa said, “I was never a good student, had a 2.1 grade point average, the military and my country was the only thing that I found passion in. The pride of belonging to such an elite organization, the discipline, and of course, the uniform,” Melissa added with a grin. “My paternal grandfather came here in the 1960s from Spain, and I think that his love for this country manifested in my father through his law enforcement career, and it ended up with me enlisting in the military.”

“I was lucky enough and grew up in a very well-off family in northern New Jersey, I wanted for nothing,” Ugalde said. “I had to grow up quickly, and the Marine Corps offered me that, and allowed me the opportunity to meet people from all over the country. It allowed me to see perspectives I hadn’t previously been open to hearing. Now I’m 25 years old, have already purchased and sold my first home, have become mother and a wife, and I am going to college on the GI Bill; the Marine Corps set me up better than I could’ve straight out of high school.”

At Torc, Melissa contributes to the marketing team by conducting competitor research, connecting with first responders, and more. She credits her ability to build relationships with customers, regulators, and her fellow Torc community to her Marine history. Alongside Torc’s marketing and communications team, Melissa helps drive the future of freight.

“I got to tell the story of the Marine Corps to the public,” Melissa said. “I became very passionate about becoming a part of history and that carries over in my work at Torc. It’s fascinating to see how things run from a strict military public affairs side of things to a civilian company side of things. It’s been a huge adjustment not having to say ‘good morning ma’am’ to every single person that walks past.”

Veterans like Melissa and Andrea help us look at the self-driving challenge from multiple angles. From providing insights on how departure clearance might operate to working with first responders on how roadside stops could operate, our veterans help us ideate and execute the policies and procedures surrounding our robotic truck technology.

Torc Robotics Performs Successful Fully Autonomous Product Validation

by Torc | Oct 29, 2024 | Featured, Press Release

BLACKSBURG, Va – Oct. 29, 2024 – Torc Robotics, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG and a pioneer in commercializing self-driving vehicle technology, today announced it began successful advanced validation of the company’s autonomous trucks without a driver in a multi-lane closed-course environment earlier this year.

Conducted at full operating speed of up to 65 mph to optimize fuel efficiency, Torc’s driverless product acceptance test underscores Torc’s evolution to productization, positioning the company to scale and commercialize safe, robust autonomous trucking solutions by 2027. Unlike a demo, this milestone highlights Torc’s entry into scalable product release, with the company’s applied artificial intelligence (AI) technology, system architecture, production-intent embedded hardware and safety engineering converging to shape a product that prioritizes true software best practices and safer roadways for all.

“Artificial intelligence has undoubtedly been the biggest buzzword of the year, but real-world uses are few and far between. Autonomous trucking is one of the most concrete applications for AI that can drive demonstrated revenue, business value and industry transformation – and Torc is at the forefront of creating a safe autonomous solution with safety, scalability and cost efficiency top of mind,” commented Torc’s Chief Technology Officer, CJ King. “With our long-standing tenure in the autonomous space, this milestone reinforces Torc’s safety-focused commitment to driving the future of freight.”

This product validation milestone exemplifies Torc’s commitment to rigorous safety and maturity standards, marking a critical step from advanced engineering and development to full productization on a unified, embedded platform.

“This is a key moment in our mission to build a profitable, scalable business as the world’s leading autonomous solution,” commented CEO Peter Vaughan Schmidt. “We observed impressive reliability in our repeated driverless runs, which leveraged Torc’s unparalleled embedded and integrated platform on Daimler Truck’s Freightliner Cascadia. We look forward to unlocking the full value of autonomous driving software for customers who prioritize safety, operations costs, ease of use and reliability.”

About Torc Robotics

Torc Robotics, headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia, is an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, a global leader and pioneer in trucking. Founded in 2005 at the birth of the self-driving vehicle revolution, Torc has over 19 years of experience in pioneering safety-critical, self-driving applications. Torc offers a complete self-driving vehicle software and integration solution and is currently focusing on commercializing autonomous trucks for long-haul applications in the U.S. Torc operates test facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and engineering offices in Austin, Texas; Stuttgart, Germany; and Montreal, Canada. Torc’s purpose is driving the future of freight with autonomous technology. As the world’s leading autonomous trucking solution, we empower exceptional employees, deliver a focused, hub-to-hub autonomous truck product, and provide our customers with the safest, most reliable, and cost-efficient solution to the market.

Assets

Driving the Future: Spotlighting the Torc Machine Learning Frameworks Team

by Torc | Oct 18, 2024 | Machine Learning, Education, Featured, Technology

sensors-machine-learning-show-truck-2024

Torc’s autonomous software system is constructed in part from machine learning and artificial intelligence components. The Torc Machine Learning Frameworks team is creating the software stack which learns from the data collected by our fleet of trucks in on-the-road testing. This group of engineers is responsible for the automated training of machine learning models, and then the automated testing and deployment to our embedded hardware.

“Our goal is to enable rapid iterations of our autonomous software ML stack and optimize our training and deployment processes,” says Nicolas Jourdan, Engineering Manager of the ML Frameworks team. “This work is crucial for accelerating the development of safe, reliable autonomous trucking technology.”

Breaking New Ground

The team’s efforts center around two ML initiatives: the Joint Training Framework (JTF) and the Joint Deployment Framework (JDF). The JTF restructures how ML models are trained, while the JDF transforms how these models are eventually deployed to our autonomous ready Freightliner Cascadia trucks.

Recently, the team reached a significant milestone: automated model optimization and deployment tests on Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) benches. Instead of having to request a truck for every deployment test of machine learning components, the teams can run tests on mirroring embedded hardware, which is tightly integrated in the cloud workflows of the team.

This breakthrough allows Torc to test ML models in a production-like environment more efficiently and scalable than ever before.

The Key to L4 Autonomy

The ML Frameworks team’s work is crucial for making Level 4 autonomous trucking a reality on U.S. public roads. “Our frameworks and standards are the backbone that will enable rapid product software releases,” Jourdan emphasizes. “In the fast-paced world of autonomous vehicle development, this ability to iterate quickly and deploy safely is what will set Torc apart.”

A Vision of Transformative Change

Fiete Botschen, Torc’s division lead for the Machine Learning Training and Release Factory, highlights the transformative potential of Machine Learning: “At Torc, we are not just developing autonomous vehicles. We are developing a data driven ecosystem, which allows us to improve our trucking software stack purely by consuming the data our trucks are collecting. This is the key enabler for expanding our logistics network. We will be able to scale our business rapidly once our production trucks hit the road.”

“As part of the Frameworks team, my daily work focuses on building a robust and scalable deployment infrastructure to ensure that every machine learning model operates with the highest reliability in an L4 autonomous environment. By driving seamless integration of complex ML models on embedded hardware, optimized for real-time performance, we are setting new industry standards. This infrastructure is critical for autonomous trucks to navigate dynamic road conditions safely and efficiently, and it reflects the foundational work I do each day to advance Torc’s leadership in autonomous freight.”

Yashovardhan Chaturvedi

Machine Learning Engineer, Torc

Long-Term Impact

The impact of the Torc ML Frameworks team is forward thinking. As autonomous vehicles become more prevalent, the robust, scalable systems developed by this team will be essential for:

Rapid adaptation to new road conditions and scenarios
Seamless integration of advancements in AI and machine learning
Scaling our compute needs with a strong, cloud-based backend
Monitoring and securing data standards

“In essence, we’re building the brain that will power the Torc autonomous trucking software,” Jourdan explains. “Our work today will enable more efficient logistics, and a robust transportation industry “

Spotlight on Innovation

Torc’s strength is its people. The ML Frameworks team is driven by the collective efforts of talented individuals working together to push the boundaries of what’s possible. The Joint Training Framework and Joint Deployment Framework is the groundwork for an adaptable future for autonomous technology.

Key contributors like Achyut Boggaram have been instrumental in designing and implementing crucial components such as Unified Data Loading Pipelines and Joint Deployment Framework. This technology enhances our ability to process complex sensor data and streamline our model deployment process, significantly reducing the time from development to real-world testing.

The team’s contributions extend beyond technical development. They’ve built a collaborative community spanning multiple divisions within Torc, fostering knowledge sharing and driving innovation. Their mentorship and proactive approach to problem-solving have been invaluable.

Botschen emphasizes, “The dedication and innovation shown by our ML Frameworks team is what makes our ambitious goals achievable. Their ability to solve complex problems, collaborate across teams, and continuously push the boundaries of what’s possible is what sets Torc apart in this competitive field.”

At Torc, we’re proud of the groundbreaking work our ML Frameworks team is doing. As we continue to drive the future of freight, we’re driven by a vision of safe, more efficient transport, Stay tuned for more updates as we continue our journey toward bringing L4 autonomous trucks to market.

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

by Kiley Mitchell Thompson | Oct 17, 2024 | Events, Featured

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.