Beer run! Self-driving truck goes 120-plus miles on delivery

A six pack of Budweiser, produced by Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, sit on display in Leuven, Belgium, Feb. 25, 2016. The U.S. Justice Department is poised to approve Anheuser-Busch InBev’s takeover of SABMiller in an agreement that may include measures to keep the beer behemoth from edging craft brewers from shelves, according to people familiar with the matter. CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Jasper Juinen.

DENVER (AP) — Anheuser-Busch says it has completed the world’s first commercial shipment by self-driving truck, sending a beer-filled tractor-trailer on a journey of more than 120 miles through Colorado.

The company says it teamed with self-driving truck maker, San Francisco-based Otto, and the state of Colorado for the feat. The trailer, loaded with Budweiser beer, began the self-driving trip at a weigh station in Fort Collins, Colorado, and ran along Interstate 25 through Denver before wrapping up in Colorado Springs.

The company says a professional truck driver was on board for the entire route and monitored the trip from the cab’s sleeper berth. It didn’t say when the shipment took place.

Anheuser-Busch says it hopes to see self-driving technology widely deployed.

- FWBP Digital Partners -

Otto was recently acquired by Uber.