Mars Auto Completes 3,379km US Autonomous Truck Delivery

SEOUL, South Korea — Mars Auto, an autonomous driving startup, said Tuesday it completed a 3,379-kilometer autonomous freight transport across the United States over three days.

The transport used a 35-ton heavy-duty truck carrying Complete Knock-Down automotive parts. 

The vehicle traveled from the Port of Long Beach, California, to Hyundai Mobis manufacturing facilities in Alabama and Georgia, reaching speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour.

The truck traveled up to 1,300 kilometers per day, according to Mars Auto.

According to the company, this daily distance is approximately 63 percent higher than the 800-kilometer average recorded by human truck drivers in the United States.

The operation utilized MarsPilot, the company’s end-to-end artificial intelligence system.

The software processes road environments in real time without relying on high-definition maps, integrating perception, judgment, and vehicle control into a single neural network.

The cross-country transport was conducted in partnership with South Korean logistics and automotive companies Hyundai Mobis, Lotte Global Logistics, and LX Pantos.

Following this deployment, the route has been transitioned into regular commercial operation.

Mars Auto has operated Level 4 commercial autonomous freight services in South Korea since 2023 under a regulatory sandbox, and expanded paid transport operations to the United States in 2024.

The startup has accumulated approximately 10 million kilometers of driving data across both markets.

Chief Executive Ilsu Park said Mars Auto plans to expand its U.S. operating fleet in the first half of the year, targeting 100 million kilometers of cumulative driving data to support middle-mile logistics operations.