UPS's Venture Arm Makes Minority Investment In Autonomous Truck Company TuSimple

UPS UPS venture capital arm, UPS Ventures, has made a minority investment in autonomous driving company TuSimple. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

The companies are testing self-driving tractor trailers on a route in Arizona to determine whether the vehicles can improve service and efficiency in the UPS network.

This latest deal is an extension of the ongoing commercial relationship between UPS and TuSimple in which UPS has purchased transportation services from TuSimple.

UPS has been providing truckloads of goods for TuSimple to carry on a North American Freight Forwarding route between Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. The company initiated self-driving service in May, with a driver and engineer in the vehicle.

"UPS is committed to developing and deploying technologies that enable us to operate our global logistics network more efficiently," said Scott Price the chief strategy and transformation officer at UPS.

"While fully autonomous, driverless vehicles still have development and regulatory work ahead, we are excited by the advances in braking and other technologies that companies like TuSimple are mastering. All of these technologies offer significant safety and other benefits that will be realized long before the full vision of autonomous vehicles is brought to fruition – and UPS will be there, as a leader implementing these new technologies in our fleet."

UPS shares were trading at $113.86. The stock has a 52-week high of $125.09 and a 52-week low of $89.89.

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