---
title: "Self-Driving Truck Completes First Cross-Country Freight Run"
description: "A startup just shipped 40,000 pounds of butter 2,800 miles from California to Pennsylvania in under three days using a truck that was driving itself."
date: "2019-12-11"
modified: "2019-12-11"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/self-driving-truck-first-cross-country-freight"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Self-Driving Vehicles"
tags:
  - "Autonomous vehicles"
  - "self-driving trucks"
  - "the digest"
---

# Self-Driving Truck Completes First Cross-Country Freight Run

![A startup just shipped 40,000 pounds of butter 2,800 miles from California to Pennsylvania in under three days using a truck that was driving itself.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/self-driving-truck-first-cross-country-freight.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Plus.ai\</em\>*

## What a (Road) Trip

Silicon Valley startup Plus.ai just shipped 40,000 pounds of butter 2,800 miles from California to Pennsylvania in under three days using a freight truck mostly driving itself, [*The Mercury News* reports](<https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/12/10/a-self-driving-truck-delivered-butter-from-california-to-pennsylvania-in-three-days/>) (a safety driver made sure to take over in case of emergencies while an engineer observed operations as well).

"We wanted to demonstrate the safety, reliability and maturity of our overall system," co-founder Shawn Kerrigan told the paper. According to Kerrigan, the autonomous truck only made scheduled stops, no "disengagements," or unforeseen problems with the self-driving system.

Other companies, including [UPS](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/ups-self-driving-trucks>) and [Volvo](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/six-self-driving-trucks-transport-limestone-norwegian-mine>) have been testing self-driving trucks — but have yet to attempt the cross-country journey.

## The Big Butter Run

Demand for butter shoots up around Thanksgiving time every year. "To be able to address this peak demand with a fuel- and cost-effective freight transport solution will be tremendously valuable to our business," Land O'Lakes butter chief supply officer Yone Dewberry said in [a statement](<https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191210005309/en/Plus.ai-Completes-Cross-Country-Commercial-Freight-Run-Self-Driving>).

The truck was battered with rain and snow, climbed 11,000 feet in elevation, and navigated winding Rockies roads during its three day journey.

**READ MORE:** [A self-driving truck delivered butter from California to Pennsylvania in three days](<https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/12/10/a-self-driving-truck-delivered-butter-from-california-to-pennsylvania-in-three-days/>) \[*The Mercury News*\]

**More on self-driving trucks:** *[UPS Has Been Quietly Shipping Packages on Self-Driving Trucks](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/ups-self-driving-trucks>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)