Autonomous vehicles are in testing by UPS (NYSE:UPS) as its looks to reduce costs.

Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com

Here’s what to know about the UPS self-driving trucks.

• UPS autonomous vehicles are undergoing testing in Arizona.
• This has them travelling between Phoenix and Tucson.
• It started testing these autonomous vehicles back in May.
• The goal is to determine the effectiveness of using self-driving trucks in package transportation.
• This means that the trucks in use are tractor trailers.
• These tractor trailers are fitted with a computer capable of Level 4 Autonomous driving.
• That means that the AI is able to pilot the vehicle without any input from a driver.
• However, there are still driver’s present in case there is a need for manual takeover.
• UPS is working with autonomous driving company TuSimple for these tests.
• The company has also made a minor investment in the company.
• UPS believes that there are several benefits from making to the switch to self-driving trucks.
• This includes cheaper costs, higher safety and reducing its carbon emissions.
• TuSimple is a relatively new company, having only formed in 2015.
• Despite this, it is moving forward with autonomous vehicles that could help shipping companies.
• Among this work is AI that is able to handle driving class 8 tractor-trailers for transportation purposes.

You can follow this link to learn more about the autonomous vehicles that UPS is testing out.

UPS stock was up 1% as of Friday morning, but is down 6% since the start of the year.

As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.