US quarry operator Luck Stone is investing in truck automation at two other sites in Virginia after more than 18 months of “successful autonomous hauling” at its Bull Run operation in Fairfax County.
Providing only a tonnage marker as a success measure for its 18-month “pilot” at Bull Run, Luck Stone and its equipment and automation partner Caterpillar said Boscobel and Bealeton would be the next sites to get unmanned trucks. US construction and mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar referenced “quarry autonomy” in claiming its autonomous trucks had hauled “more than 13 billion tonnes and safely travelled more than 455 million kilometres with no reported injuries while operating”.
Luck family-owned Luck Stone had hauled more than 3.17 million tonnes since November 2024 at Bull Run.
The company also last year partnered with Sweden’s Epiroc on the use of a fully autonomous drill rig at one of its quarries.
Caterpillar says it will work with Luck Stone to introduce autonomous 65-tonne-payload trucks at Boscobel and Bealeton. It would be the first time its autonomous haulage technology was deployed on Caterpillar 775 vehicles, a “key haul truck model in the quarry industry”.
