Self-driving 18-wheeler traffic on I-45 between Dallas and Houston just got a little busier.

Sweden-based Volvo Autonomous Solutions has announcement a partnership with Denmark-based logistics company DSV on autonomous freight operations in Texas. V.A.S. said it’s expanding its operations in Texas by launching autonomous transport services for DSV between Aurora’s terminals in greater Dallas and Houston, and is integrating them into DSV’s existing commercial trucking logistics flows.

In June 2023, V.A.S. opened an office in Fort Worth, from which it launched its first U.S. autonomous freight operations in December 2024 in partnership with Aurora Innovation and DHL Supply Chain. Those initial runs were between Fort Worth and El Paso and Dallas and Houston.

Safety driver behind the wheel for now

During the initial phase of the V.A.S.-DSV collaboration, a safety driver will be behind the wheel, which aligns with Volvo’s current operational mode. For now, the companies say, the goal is to strengthen day-to-day performance while building operational experience that supports expansion to additional routes beyond the Dallas-Houston “lane.”

Helmut Schweighofer, CEO of DSV Road, said autonomous driving “is moving towards real-world operations.”

“Our collaboration with Volvo in Texas represents a production, depot-to-depot setup,” he added in a statement. “We see clear opportunities to improve safety and driver comfort, help mitigate a growing driver shortage, and unlock better asset utilization through 24/7 operations for the benefit of our customers.” 

Sasko Cuklev, head of on-road Solutions at V.A.S., called logistics providers like DSV “an important customer group for Volvo Autonomous Solutions,” and said DSV is at the forefront of how autonomous transport can be applied in real logistics networks.

“Starting between Dallas and Houston, we plan to move freight together in a way that supports round-the-clock operations and creates a scalable foundation for adding more lanes over time,” Cuklev added in a statement.

Deploying V.A.S.’s Autona/freight solution

Volvo Autonomous Solutions said it is deploying its Autona/freight solution for the DSV collaboration on I-45. The end-to-end autonomous transport setup technology combines Volvo VNL Autonomous with self-driving technology from partners Aurora and Waabi, along with additional systems and services required to operate self-driving freight at scale.  

V.A.S. said it has logged more than one million miles in regional and local freight since 2023.

Self-driving competitors abound on I-45 and beyond

In a first, Pittsburgh-based Aurora Innovation launched fully driverless commercial trucking runs between Dallas and Houston in April 2025.  

Bot Auto—a Houston-based autonomous trucking startup offering transportation as a service (TaaS) through its AI-driven fleet—is partnering with Kansas freight brokerage Ryan Transportation to launch “humanless,” autonomous trucking runs between Dallas and Houston, as we wrote about in February.

Self-driving truck developer Torc Robotics, a subsidiary of Daimler Truck, is establishing a major driverless trucking hub in Fort Worth to support autonomous freight operations on the I-35 corridor.

Kodiak Robotics has delivered refrigerated freight for quick service restaurants between Dallas and Oklahoma City with its own autonomous trucks. And Gatik has partnered with Kroger and with Pitney Bowes for self-driving deliveries in Dallas.

In April 2024, Uber- and Nvidia-backed Waabi, a Toronto startup, opened an autonomous trucking terminal in Lancaster, just south of Dallas, with its own plans to launch “driver-out” operations between the Dallas and Houston metros.

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