Return to News Jan 11, 2021

Embark, Kodiak and TuSimple Join The Self-Driving Coalition

Washington, D.C. - Embark, Kodiak and TuSimple became the first companies dedicated exclusively to developing self-driving trucks to join the Self-Driving Coalition. The Coalition is the leading organization representing the autonomous vehicles (AV) industry. The Coalition’s members include Argo AI, Aurora, Cruise, Ford, Lyft, Motional, Nuro, Uber, Volvo Cars and Waymo.

The Self-Driving Coalition was established to work with lawmakers, regulators and the public to realize the safety and societal benefits of self-driving vehicles. AV technology holds the potential to improve safety, enhance mobility, and transform how goods and passengers move. The Coalition’s addition of Embark, Kodiak, and TuSimple marks its commitment to advocating for the broad spectrum of autonomous vehicle use cases. 

“We’re excited to welcome Embark, Kodiak and TuSimple,” said Ariel Wolf, counsel to the Coalition. “By adding their voices to our work with federal, state and local policymakers, the Coalition enhances our commitment to make self-driving technology’s transformative potential a reality on America’s roads and highways.”

“The safety and efficiency benefits of self-driving technology are especially pronounced in freight trucking," said Embark co-founder and CEO Alex Rodrigues. "Embark has been working closely with federal and state officials to realize these benefits since our founding in 2016. We are excited to add our voice and trucking perspective to the Self-Driving Coalition and ensure businesses and consumers who rely on freight trucking can benefit from self-driving technology."

“We’ve long admired the work of the Self-Driving Coalition, and are thrilled to join given our shared commitment to improving roadway safety by bringing self-driving vehicles to American highways,” said Don Burnette, CEO of Kodiak Robotics. “Self-driving trucks will likely be among the first AVs most Americans see on the road at scale – we look forward to working with the Self-Driving Coalition to engage with policymakers and the public at large on this critical technology."

“We’re proud to join the Self Driving Coalition and to advance autonomous driving technologies which will help make roads safer and more efficient for everyone,” said Jim Mullen, Chief Administrative and Legal Officer of TuSimple. “Our working relationship with the DOT, state and local officials has been very productive, and we look forward to joining efforts to collectively bolster the AV industry’s efforts to collaborate with government officials to bring this transformational technology to market safely and reliably.”