The autonomous driving startup Pony.ai obtained a cross-provincial demonstration application permit on Thursday from three government bodies, including the Tianjin Municipal Transportation Commission, marking the first time a permit of this type has been granted to self-driving heavy-duty trucks.

Pony.ai will collaborate with logistics company Sinotrans to provide autonomous highway freight services on the Beijing and Tianjin sections of the Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu expressway.

The company's autonomous trucks will undergo testing on this cross-provincial highway at speeds of up to 90 kilometers per hour, with a safety operator positioned in the driver's seat. Over 100 kilometers of the Beijing and Tianjin segments of the expressway have been approved for testing.

Pony.ai has initiated explorations of autonomous truck logistics and dedicated logistics freight operations in numerous locations across China.

The startup has conducted autonomous driving on various complex road types, weather conditions and lighting scenarios. As of this publication, Pony.ai and its joint venture companies have accumulated nearly 4 million km of autonomous truck testing distance, with a total freight weight of almost 20 million ton-kilometers.