(Yicai Global) March 17 -- Self-driving trucks using TuSimple Holdings’ technology have clocked up a total of 16 million kilometres, the Chinese autonomous trucking startup said today.

This is the latest in a string of milestones by the Shanghai-based firm. In 2018, TuSimple was the first self-driving company to receive a licence in China to test driverless trucks on open roads.

For the next two years, it carried out tests with empty trucks in some sections of the new Lingang area of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone. And since then it has been allowed to test trucks carrying cargo in certain parts of downtown Lingang, the Lingang Logistics Park, Donghai Bridge and Shanghai Yangshan Port.

In December 2021, the company completed the world’s first tests for fully unmanned heavy trucks on open roads, driving 129 km without safety guards or human intervention. Then last year, TuSimple tested its self-driving cargo trucks on open roads in Europe for the first time, driving 300 km.

Editor: Kim Taylor