Heavy Equipment

Cat Unveils Self-Driving Truck for Aggregates Industry

The Cat 777 hauls 101 tons with a 1,025-hp engine and MineStar Command.

Updated on

January 5, 2025

Cat 777 Truck for Aggregates Industry. (Photo: Courtesy)

Caterpillar has rolled out its first autonomous haul truck for the aggregates industry – the Cat 777 – at Luck Stone’s Bull Run Plant in Chantilly, Virginia.

This marks a major step towards automation in a hitherto manual sector.

Luck Stone, the largest family-owned U.S. producer of crushed stone, sand, and gravel, has collaborated with Caterpillar over the past two years to grow its fleet of autonomous trucks.

The partnership seeks to develop a cost-effective and scalable solution for the quarry industry by blending advanced technology with operational expertise.

“Caterpillar’s technology will not only enhance safety but also provide opportunities for our associates to grow and develop,” stated Charlie Luck, chairman and CEO of Luck Companies.

The Cat 777, equipped with the advanced Cat MineStar Command system, is capable of hauling up to 101 tons of material, powered by a 1,025-horsepower engine.

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology provides a real-time, 360-degree map of the autonomous system’s surroundings.

LiDAR scans more than a million times a second to enable the truck to detect any obstacle in its path and take appropriate action, such as slowing down, stopping, or honking the horn.

“The technology offers a level of precision that ensures safe, efficient operations even in complex environments,” said Caterpillar.

“By rotating at 600 rpm, the LiDAR device covers a wide area around the truck, ensuring it can react to hazards in real-time.”

Caterpillar has been working with autonomous vehicles since the 1990s when it first introduced prototype autonomous trucks in a quarry in Texas.

Since then, these trucks have been deployed on sites across three continents, moving more than 8.6 billion metric tons of material.

Denise Johnson, Group President of Caterpillar’s Resource Industries, praised the move, saying the success at Luck Stone’s plant serves as a “significant step toward making autonomous technology a mainstream solution for the quarry and aggregates sector.”

The technology’s potential goes beyond improving operational efficiency.

“This project will help our customers in the quarry and aggregates industries realize a step change in safety and productivity,” he added.

Caterpillar and Luck Stone will further develop the haul trucks to meet the unique demands of quarries before making them available for commercial use in the aggregates industry.