(Yicai Global) March 27 -- American-Chinese truck startup TuSimple and German auto parts maker ZF Group are teaming up to develop a commercial driverless truck technology platform.

The pair will start work next month to make the platform, which it plans to sell in China, North America and Europe, The Paper cited TuSimple as saying today. The tech will include fusion cameras, lidar, millimeter wave radars, driverless control systems and a central processing platform named ZF ProAI for self-driving trucks.

The Chinese and US freight industries are worth about USD1.5 trillion, TuSimple said in September after raising USD120 million and taking its total investment as of then to USD300 million. Self-driving technology will be a critical factor in ensuring safe operations and cost-effectiveness, it added.

ZF Group is renowned worldwide for its auto industrial design and manufacturing, covering transmission and chassis technology. It has 240 branches and 16 research hubs across 41 countries, and will use its engineering tech to help TuSimple put its self-driving systems into mass-produced trucks.

TuSimple, founded in 2015 and with headquarters in Beijing and San Diego, provides services to 18 clients in the US. It runs a trial logistics line for unmanned driving in Arizona in tandem with United Parcel Service and is running a driverless truck demonstration in Lin-gang New Area in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

Editor: James Boynton