Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s autonomous vehicle company, is finally ready to put its self-driving trucks to work.

The company announced today that it has launched a new pilot program in Atlanta, where its driverless trucks will be transporting cargo to Google data centers.

Waymo, formerly part of Google X, started working on self-driving cars back in 2009, but trucks are a relatively new frontier for the company. In fact, Waymo has been testing its trucks on public roads for only a year. However, the company said in a blog post today that its truck project had a head start thanks to its existing self-driving technology, which Waymo said is “not only experienced, but adaptable.”

“They benefit from the same advanced self-driving software that has enabled our cars to go fully driverless in Arizona,” the Waymo team said. “And our engineers and AI experts are leveraging the same five million miles we’ve already self-driven on public roads, plus the five billion miles we’ve driven in simulation.”

Waymo’s pilot program launches next week in Atlanta, but the self-driving trucks will not be driving alone. The company said that trained drivers will ride inside the truck cabs to monitor their progress and take over if needed. Of course, Waymo’s eventual goal is for its trucks to take care of themselves, and the company said its pilot will help that vision become a reality sooner rather than later.

“This pilot, in partnership with Google’s logistics team, will let us further develop our technology and integrate it into the operations of shippers and carriers, with their network of factories, distribution centers, ports and terminals,” the Waymo team said. The company added that it believes that “self-driving technology has the potential to make this sector safer and even stronger. ”

Waymo’s announcement comes just three days after Uber Technologies Inc. announced that its own self-driving trucks will begin making commercial shipments in Arizona. Uber’s program grew out of its $680 million acquisition of Otto Inc., a startup founded by former Google engineers that later became the subject of a massive trade theft lawsuit. The legal battle between Uber and Alphabet ramped up over the last year before suddenly it suddenly end in February, with Uber agreeing to pay a $245 million settlement.

Photo: Waymo