Manbang enters the driverless truck race

Manbang Group, China's largest truck-hailing company, is expanding into the sector of self-driving truck fleets by leveraging its huge transportation data and investing in PlusAI Inc, a startup focusing on driverless cargo vehicles.

"There is a trend toward driverless cargo in the logistics industry," said Luo Peng, vice-president of Manbang Group. "Manbang is pursuing the research and development of driverless freight technology with PlusAI."

According to Liu Wanqian, CEO and founder of PlusAI, driverless cargo vehicles will accelerate the development of the logistics industry, improve road safety, make transport more efficient and reduce fuel consumption. To better tap into the opportunity, he said it is important to partner with Manbang, which now serves around 5.2 million trucks and 1.25 million logistics firms.