Following successful pilots in North America, Heidelberg Materials will deploy Pronto Autonomous Haulage System to more than a dozen sites around the world on a combination of new and pre-owned rigid frame haul trucks.
Pronto, the Silicon Valley-based autonomous technology pioneer, today announced an agreement with Heidelberg Materials, one of the world’s largest integrated manufacturers of building materials and solutions, to deploy Pronto’s Autonomous Haulage System (Pronto AHS) to over 100 trucks operating at Heidelberg Materials sites worldwide over the next three years. Pronto will also become Heidelberg Materials’ exclusive provider of autonomous technologies in North America under the agreement.
“Implementing industry leading technologies across our global footprint is an important driver of operational excellence and digital innovation at Heidelberg Materials,” says Axel Conrads, chief technical officer and member of the Managing Board of Heidelberg Materials. “We are pleased to partner with Pronto who stood out to us by delivering a reliable solution that will contribute towards improving our production efficiency, enhancing the safety of our employees, and accelerating our sustainability efforts.”
Pronto AHS utilises advanced artificial intelligence combined with a hardened camera system, avoiding costly, complex sensor technologies such as radar and lidar, resulting in a system that can be deployed in a matter of weeks at a fraction of the cost for competitive systems.
“We set out to develop an AHS that could deliver industry-leading safety, performance, and economics in the quarry market,” says Anthony Levandowski, CEO of Pronto. “Earning Heidelberg Materials’ trust to go global with Pronto AHS is an incredible validation of our product and confirms that we have accomplished those goals.”
The global agreement follows the 2023 pilot of Pronto’s technologies at Heidelberg Materials’ quarry in Bridgeport, Texas, and the subsequent deployment of Pronto AHS at Heidelberg Materials’ quarry in Lake Bridgeport, Texas on a mixed OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) fleet of haul trucks, which Pronto believes to be the first autonomous mixed fleet to enter production in North America.
The success of those deployments led to today’s partnership, which once fully implemented, will result in Pronto becoming the leading global non-OEM provider of Autonomous Haulage Systems.
