Steves & Sons, a Texas-based doormaker, has become the first partner of autonomous trucking startup, Bot Auto, the companies have revealed. The doormaker has been piloting Bot Auto’s Freightliner tractors since June, and has now agreed to partner with the tech startup.
Steves & Sons is a 159-year-old company based in Houston. It has worked alongside its managed logistics provider, J.B. Hunt, since 2019. Reportedly, the first routes that Bot Auto will run for the company will be to and from San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. The pilot will focus on streamlining transfers between plant and customer, and improving planning and execution.
Self-driving trucks have long been heralded as the future of the logistics industry, touted as a solution to the ongoing hiring crisis. At this point in time, however, that promise has yet to be realized, with a lack of federal guidance on the issue stymieing progress. This has created an inconsistent regulatory landscape, with different states passing different mandates.
Texan Business Partners With Autonomous Truck Startup
A small Texan doormaker business, Steves & Sons, has officially partnered with autonomous truck startup, Bot Auto. The companies revealed the news in a joint statement with J.B. Hunt, a managed logistics provider that is also partnered with Steves & Sons.
The announcement follows a successful pilot program that started in June 2025. During this time, the doormaker tested retrofitted Freightliner tractors on routes between Houston and San Antonio.
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According to Scott Lovett, chief operating officer at Steves & Sons:
“We’re proud to be working with J.B. Hunt and Bot Auto to drive innovation and stay at the forefront of technology. This collaboration is about more than just improving logistics — it’s about reimagining how our industry operates to meet the evolving needs of our customers and communities.”
Paving the Way for an Autonomous Future
Headquartered in San Antonio, Steves & Sons has been making doors for 159 years. In 2019, the company struck a deal with J.B. Hunt, one of the largest for-hire carriers in the country, to take care of its deliveries and transportation. It has since begun to test Bot Auto self-driving trucks on its routes.
Unlike many of its contemporaries, which tend to partner with specific truck manufacturers, Bot Auto operates a Technology-as-a-Service business model. It offers Level 4 autonomous vehicles, which do not require human interaction in most instance, but can be manually overridden by a driver when required.
As per the new partnership, the involved parties plan to pilot Freightliner trucks, which have been retrofitted with Bot Auto autonomous technology, on roads between San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. It is hoped that the program will allow the companies to streamline transfers, and improve logistical planning and execution.
Debate Over Self-Driving Technology Continues
For all its undoubted promise, autonomous trucking technology continues to divide opinion. Its advocates point to the benefits that it can bring to logistics businesses, including solving the hiring crisis, saving money, and boosting efficiency. On the other side, its detractors cite safety concerns, liability issues, and fears that it will make human operators redundant.
As part of our Moving Goods With Fewer Hands report, we surveyed 521 industry insiders to get their views on autonomous trucking, amongst other things. We found that most respondents (42%) concurred that we can expect “widespread” use of this technology on public roads in the next 15 years. Just 14% believed that that it won’t happen until after 2050.
Whatever the case may be, there’s no disputing that technology poses a genuinely compelling answer to some of the problems that the logistics industry is currently facing. In fact, 73% of survey participants confirmed that technology has already helped them to address workforce challenges this year.
