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A more than 150-year-old Texan door manufacturer is the first partner for autonomous trucking startup Bot Auto with help from J.B. Hunt, the companies said July 24.
San Antonio-headquartered Steves & Sons began pilot program testing Bot Auto’s retrofitted Freightliner tractors alongside its managed logistics provider, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, in June, a Bot Auto spokesman told Transport Topics.
Lowell, Ark.-based J.B. Hunt ranks No. 3 on the TT Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 2 on the truckload/dedicated sector list. It also ranks No. 4 on the TT logistics Top 100.
The first routes that Bot Auto, which operates a transportation-as-a-service business model, will run for Steves & Sons will be to and from San Antonio and Dallas and Houston. The pilot will focus on streamlining plant-to-customer transfers and improving logistical planning and execution, the partners said.
“We’re proud to be working with J.B. Hunt and Bot Auto to drive innovation and stay at the forefront of technology,” said Scott Lovett, chief operating officer at Steves & Sons. “This collaboration is about more than improving logistics — it’s about reimagining how our industry operates to meet the evolving needs of our customers and communities.”
“This is not just a technical upgrade — it’s a cultural shift,” Lovett added. “We’re investing in the future of American manufacturing by building smarter, safer and more adaptive supply chain systems that support our employees, our partners and the customers we serve.”
Steves & Sons is a 159-year-old business. The company is headed by a sixth generation of the Steves family. J.B. Hunt and Steves & Sons began working together in 2019 in a private fleet conversion, but the partnership now comprises brokerage, truckload, less-than-truckload, international and last-mile delivery services.
Bot Auto’s driverless trucks are Freightliner tractors retrofitted with its self-driving technology and extra safety components.
Houston-based Bot Auto offers Level 4 autonomous vehicles. Autonomous vehicles are classified in levels 1 to 5. Level 4 does not require human interaction in most circumstances, but a driver can still manually override systems. Bot Auto is focused on specific longhaul freight lanes between designated hubs.
Unlike many of its peers, Bot Auto is offering a TaaS business model rather than partnering with a truck manufacturer on factory installation of the technology. In effect, the company becomes a motor carrier with autonomous trucks it retrofits, maintains and operates.
In March, Bot Auto announced its first driverless commercial freight runs would take place later in 2025 through a pilot program in Texas.
Bot Auto CEO Xiaodi Hou. (Bot Auto)
At the time, CEO Xiaodi Hou said the program would run for at least four months with between five and 10 trucks able to operate absent a safety driver behind the wheel.
Bot Auto raised $20 million in September.
Investors providing the $20 million in Pre-A funding include Brightway Future Venture, Cherubic Venture, EnvisionX Venture, First Star Venture, Linear Capital, M31 Capital, Taihill Venture and Uphonest Venture.
The company was founded by Hou, formerly the founder and CEO of TuSimple.
Hou argues that because of the advances in artificial intelligence since his first foray into autonomous vehicles with TuSimple, development takes less time, funds and staff.
Hou, who twice departed the now China-based TuSimple amid controversial circumstances, is joined at Bot Auto by several former TuSimple colleagues.
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