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Caterpillar Inc. has demonstrated the fully autonomous operation of its Cat® 777 off-highway truck at Luck Stone’s Bull Run plant in Chantilly, Virginia. This marks a significant milestone in Caterpillar’s efforts to bring an autonomous hauling solution to the quarry and aggregates industry, showcasing the Cat® MineStar™ Command for hauling.
Key Highlights:
- First deployment of Caterpillar’s autonomous technology in the aggregates industry.
- Collaboration with Luck Stone began in December 2022 to accelerate autonomous solutions.
- The Cat® 777 truck expands Caterpillar’s autonomous fleet to the 100-ton-class.
- Caterpillar has over 325 million kilometers of autonomous truck experience across three continents.
- Autonomous hauling aims to improve safety and increase productivity in the quarry sector.
This partnership represents Caterpillar’s initial foray into autonomous technology for the aggregates market, broadening its established autonomous truck fleet to include the 100-ton-class Cat® 777. The collaboration, which began in December 2022, focuses on accelerating the development of autonomous solutions specifically for quarry and aggregate applications. Caterpillar is known for its leadership in autonomy, with its trucks having collectively traveled more than 325 million kilometers and moved over 8.62 billion tonnes of materials autonomously.
Working closely with Luck Stone, the largest family-owned producer of crushed stone, sand, and gravel in the U.S., Caterpillar aims to create a scalable and cost-effective system for the quarry industry. By embedding its team within Luck Stone for two years, Caterpillar gained valuable insights into quarry operations, which will enable it to meet customers’ needs for both safety improvements and productivity gains.
Denise Johnson, Group President of Caterpillar’s Resource Industries, said, “Congratulations to both the Luck Stone and Caterpillar teams for this outstanding achievement. It’s meaningful not just for Bull Run operations, but for our customers of all sizes as we develop new technologies to serve the quarry and aggregates as well as construction industries.”
The successful autonomous hauling deployment at Luck Stone’s Bull Run plant is the first step in an ongoing effort to test and validate these systems before making them commercially available to the aggregates industry. The project is viewed as a major success, providing Luck Stone associates with opportunities to learn and engage with cutting-edge technology.
Charlie Luck, Chairman and CEO of Luck Companies, expressed his enthusiasm: “The successful implementation of an autonomous hauling solution at our Bull Run Plant is a major accomplishment for Luck Stone associates, for Caterpillar, and for our industry. Our mission is to ignite human potential and positively impact the lives of others, and this project does just that by providing opportunities and experiences for our associates to grow and learn.”
Caterpillar’s collaboration with Luck Stone is set to pave the way for wider adoption of autonomous technology in the quarry and aggregates sectors, aiming to enhance safety, boost productivity, and attract new talent to the industry. The Cat® MineStar™ Command technology will not only deliver improved performance but also potentially reshape the quarry operations landscape by creating safer, more efficient working environments.
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