Autonomous trucking technology company TuSimple has hired two former UPS and Walmart leaders to head its strategy and fleet operations.
Effective immediately, Lee White, who spent 35 years at UPS, and Conrad Miller, who spent 15 years at Walmart as a senior director of transportation and technology, will serve as TuSimple’s vice president of strategy and senior director of fleet operations, respectively.
As vice president of strategy, White will be responsible for commercial operations and infrastructure with a focus on business expansion.
He will report to TuSimple president Cheng Lu and split time between the company’s headquarters in San Diego, California, and operations facility in Tucson, Arizona.
As senior director of fleet operations, Miller will lead a division responsible for vehicle quality, maintenance, manufacturing, and the team of safety drivers who oversee the autonomous system for TuSimple.
The role is part of the company’s newly formed Autonomy Operations Group, which focuses on vehicle reliability, availability, and utilisation.
Miller will report to chief product officer Chuck Price, who also leads the Autonomy Operations Group, and will work out of the company’s Tucson facility.
“Lee and Conrad both bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the TuSimple team through their impressive tenures at UPS and Walmart –companies that are known as leaders in logistics,” said Lu.
“These strategic hires will help build an infrastructure that allows operations to scale while maintaining peak performance.
“The impressive professional and leadership backgrounds of Lee and Conrad are invaluable to us as we remain laser-focused on maintaining our leadership position in the autonomous trucking industry.”
TuSimple currently operates a fleet of more than 40 autonomous trucks, has 18 contracted customers, and makes 22 autonomous trips between Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas for companies such as UPS weekly.
The company plans to start driverless operations in 2021.
Want to read more stories like this?
https://www.roboticsandautomationmagazine.co.uk/zf-and-tusimple-establish-automated-truck-technology-partnership/
https://www.roboticsandautomationmagazine.co.uk/daimler-and-torc-robotics-expand-automated-truck-test-routes/
https://www.roboticsandautomationmagazine.co.uk/keep-on-truckin/
