Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Waabi have begun moving Warp freight on the Dallas-Houston lane with Volvo VNL Autonomous trucks running the Waabi Driver, the partners said Monday. An observer still sits behind the wheel, but the deployment marks the first commercial customer operation since the companies announced their tie-up and shifts the autonomous-truck pitch from full truckload into less-than-truckload linehaul.

Warp runs LTL and full truckload through a single network, with Walmart, DoorDash and Gopuff among its customers. CEO Daniel Sokolovsky, who founded AxleHire before Warp emerged from stealth in 2022, said the network design is what makes autonomy commercially interesting at this stage.

Why does LTL matter for autonomous trucks?

LTL linehaul often runs slip-seat: a driver takes a tractor for a shift, then hands it to the next driver. Federal hours-of-service rules cap each driver at 11 hours behind the wheel after 10 consecutive hours off duty. The handoffs cost utilization, particularly on short corridors where the legal driving window exceeds the lane length.

Waabi COO Lior Ron argued that autonomy changes that math on a regional lane as much as on a coast-to-coast run.

"Warp is a fantastic example where we can demonstrate the value of driving next-level efficiency for LTL consolidation, and remind people that hours-of-service benefits do not necessarily need to translate into a coast-to-coast, team-driving unlock," Ron told FreightWaves. "They can also help drive efficiency on a Dallas-Houston corridor, and continuous consolidation and efficiency of the LTL network."

Ron said scheduling and balancing those networks gets harder "with what's happening in the market now, between capacity exiting the market and fuel." He added that demand for autonomy has grown since his last conversation with the outlet.

Sokolovsky framed the deal as a network play. "The value of autonomy grows when you can coordinate the freight around it," he said in the announcement. "Warp brings together shipments from multiple customers and aligns routes, capacity, and timing, so advances on a single lane can benefit the broader network."

When does the observer leave the cab?

Not yet. Waabi moved its software from a Peterbilt 579 test fleet to the Volvo VNL Autonomous this summer without retraining, and the Volvo truck carries redundancies for six safety-critical systems, according to the partners. Ron said Waabi is holding off on a driverless retrofit and waiting for Volvo's purpose-built platform.

"Although we are ready, we are choosing not to retrofit our way into driverless, and to wait until Volvo is ready," Ron said. "The good news is Volvo is on track. You see their public commitments, and we are fully on track for driverless next year, with Volvo as the first OEM platform."

Volvo expects to begin installing Waabi's system in the first quarter of 2027, Forbes reported last month. For shippers and forwarders, that timeline sets the earliest realistic window for removing the safety operator from Dallas-Houston and similar corridors.

How fast can Waabi open a new lane?

Waabi's truck completed the Dallas-San Antonio lane last month with zero disengagements, the company said. Ron described a mapping process that uses a single truck pass to build a light map the autonomy stack treats as another sensor, with no lane-specific training required.

Waabi has compressed lane-opening time from three months to three weeks, and with San Antonio, to none at all, Ron said. The shift, he added, changes the sales conversation.

"What changes is the ask," Ron said. Waabi no longer has to ask a shipper whether it has loads running Dallas to Houston. It can ask where the customer's most acute pain point sits, a question Ron said he borrowed from his time running Uber Freight, which he founded and led as CEO.

"Let's solve those pain points with autonomy now, versus waiting for autonomy to catch up," he said.

What is the shipper appetite?

During a keynote at a supply chain executive conference in Las Vegas last month, Ron polled the room. About three-quarters raised a hand when he asked who had ridden in a Waymo. About half raised a hand when he asked who wants to deploy autonomy in their network within three years.

"We're on track, and we're seeing massive customer demand," Ron said. "It's crazy, because we're beyond the early adopters now."

If Volvo hits its Q1 2027 installation target and Waabi keeps cutting lane-open time, the Dallas-Houston pilot becomes a template for other regional LTL corridors now losing drivers to capacity exits and fuel volatility.