Bot Auto runs fully driverless trucks between Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, and it is not waiting for a far-off future to do it. Tete Xiao, VP of Engineering and AI at Bot Auto, explains why autonomous trucks make the most sense on the long-haul routes drivers turn down: overnight runs, seasonal surges, and lanes nobody wants to staff. He breaks down the real economics of cost per mile, why the company operates as a carrier with its own DOT number instead of licensing software, and how it plans to scale without depressing driver wages. A grounded look at where autonomous trucking actually stands in 2026.

Blythe (Brumleve) Milligan sat down with 8 operators building AI tools for logistics, from driverless trucks in Texas to voice AI that books freight 24/7. She went in expecting the worst: inflated numbers, demos that fall apart, tools that promise everything and ship nothing. What she found instead were practitioners doing real, unglamorous work. This episode is her take on what it all means.