Autonomous vehicles are coming to the market - however they are very different from the offerings of either Google or Tesla. No passenger seats, no steering wheel and no over-ride from the cabin - there is no cabin! This is full on Arnie style Terminator automotive.
Could the move towards autonomous heavy goods vehicles be due in part to the shortage of haulage/truck drivers in the current market? According to an article in a national newspaper "Haulage bosses need to train 45,000 new truckers just to fill existing vacancies…the shortage is growing at the rate of 50 a day – with a further 20,000 expected to quit by the end of the year….” - ally this with the costs of training and retaining drivers and an autonomous fleet starts to look like a very cost effective and less troublesome solution.
It should be noted that at this stage there is still a human operator managing the vehicles from a control tower. And that the tasks being completed are very repetitive - the long distance HGV driver should probably not start losing sleep just yet.
Volvo's Vera Hauler have partnered with DFDS - a Ferry and logistics company in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Currently the Vera is piloting pre-defined routes, moving from ports to to industrial areas over a short distance. They are limited to 25mph, however this will be scaled up on completion of the trial as reports are that the precision of the deliveries is flawless.
These will definitely turn a few heads once they make it on to roads near you!
Volvo Vera Electric Autonomous Hauler Hits The Road In Sweden:
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