Humble Robotics has introduced the Humble Hauler, an autonomous electric freight vehicle designed without a traditional driver’s cabin and aimed initially at container transport operations.
The San Francisco-based startup is taking a different approach from established autonomous truck developers such as Sweden’s Einride by focusing on a flatbed container chassis rather than a box-body truck design.
The Humble Hauler replaces the conventional cab with a narrow front section equipped with cameras and sensors, allowing more space for payload capacity.
Humble Robotics said the vehicle was designed specifically for autonomous freight operations rather than adapted from an existing truck platform.
“Trucks were never designed to be autonomous,” Eyal Cohen, founder and chief executive of Humble Robotics, told Fortune.
“Removing the cab allows us to rethink the whole vehicle for an autonomous future,” Cohen added.
Cohen previously worked at companies including Uber, Spark and Waabi. The startup’s team also includes former employees from Apple, Google, Rivian and Tesla. Humble Robotics said it has raised $24 million in early-stage funding.
The Humble Hauler will initially be offered in two versions: a four-axle long-wheelbase model for 40-foot and 53-foot shipping containers and a shorter three-axle version for 20-foot containers.
The company sees container terminals and freight hubs as an early deployment opportunity because many port operations are already partially automated.
For example, autonomous terminal trucks from Terberg are expected to begin operating at the Port of Rotterdam next year.
Humble Robotics said its vehicle platform was designed for broader commercial applications beyond container transport.
The company describes the chassis as a “versatile, electric platform” equipped with a universal “Lock & Twist” interface that could support multiple vehicle configurations, including specialised industrial trucks such as concrete mixers.
The vehicle uses a 360-degree sensor suite combining cameras, radar and LiDAR systems.
According to the Fortune report, the autonomous driving software relies on artificial intelligence models integrating image recognition, speech processing and decision-making functions instead of traditional rule-based systems.
Einride has pursued a similar concept in Europe with its autonomous electric freight vehicle known as the Einride eBot, formerly called the Gen 2 Rigid Large.
Like the Humble Hauler, the Einride vehicle does not include a steering wheel, pedals or a conventional driver’s cabin.