China Startup Races Tesla with Driverless Trucks in Arizona

A Chinese startup with powerful backing plans to test a fleet of self-driving trucks in Arizona and Shanghai next year, competing with Uber Technologies Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo in transforming the way goods are delivered.

Haulage is ripe for disruption by automation because the industry faces a growing shortage of drivers and transporting cargo between fixed points is less complicated than city driving, says Chen Mo, 33, co-founder and chief executive officer of Beijing-based Tusimple, which is backed by Sina Corp., operator of China’s biggest microblogging site.

Self-driving trucks could cut logistics costs by 40 percent in the U.S. ...