Episode 265 | From Albuquerque to Texas: Torc Prepares for Commercial Operations

Peter Vaughan Schmidt, CEO, Torc joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss how Torc is preparing to launch commercial operations in Texas.Torc’s strategic relocation from Albuquerque to Fort Worth, Texas was a move that aligned with changing market dynamics. The regulatory environment combined with a growing demand for freight movement, makes Texas the ideal market to launch s commercial autonomous trucking operations.Looking ahead to 2027, Torc plans to launch commercial autonomous trucking operations in Texas. When the service is launched, customers will purchase autonomous-ready Cascadias from Freightliner, own the asset and subscribe to Torc’s virtual driver service.Recorded on Tuesday, January 14, 2025Episode Chapters0:00 Torc Moves from Albuquerque to Texas4:37 Autonomous-Ready Cascadias8:57 Preparing for Driver-Out Operations11:01 Torc’s Perception System12:22 From a Robotics Stack to an AI Stack15:26 Autonomous Truck Policy17:08 AI’s Is Accelerating Torc’s Commercial Launch20:32 Scaling Commercial Operations22:39 Buying an Autonomous Truck Powered by Torc24:24 Torc Business Model30:07 Autonomous Truck Maintenance34:09 Capital Allocation Strategy37:21 Outside Capital39:44 Additional OEMs41:05 Waymo43:29 Autonomous Trucking Market45:17 Torc Outlook--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.