The race toward the safe deployment of SAE Level 4 trucks is heating up, as the industry works to catch up to robotaxi rollouts.

Fleets and truck manufacturers have been looking towards self-driving vehicle technologies to reduce costs amid a driver shortage.

Autonomous transportation startup Waabi and Volvo will jointly develop and deploy autonomous trucks. Volvo was the first strategic investor in the company, which also has investments from Uber, Nvidia,

Waabi will begin integrating its self-driving technology into Volvo's most advanced trucks, the companies said Tuesday. Why it matters: The partnership is another sign that self-driving trucks are getting close to deployment on American highways.

Waabi teams up with Volvo Autonomous Solutions to develop autonomous trucks, aiming to revolutionize the North American freight industry.

A new, long-term strategic collaboration between Waabi and Volvo Autonomous Solutions will accelerate the scale of autonomous truck adoption in the United States, the companies said.

Waabi's AI-powered system is designed to allow vehicles to adapt to a variety of different driving conditions and scenarios on roads.

The Swedish automaker plans to use pair sensors and other hardware with Waabi's AI-based software in its Volvo VNL Autonomous.

A Toronto-based self-driving AI company is partnering with Volvo to scale the production of driverless trucks south of the border, with hopes to bring the vehicles to Canadian roads one day.