The goal (or dream) of having fully autonomous passenger cars rule our public roads has taken a back seat. Nevertheless, the logistics sector is benefiting from the billions of dollars spent on research.In February, the world’s first fully autonomous truck yard went live.According to Yibiao Zhao, CEO and co-founder of ISEE, the company that installed the system, the autonomous truck yard integrated seamlessly with existing yard management systems, warehouse management systems and facility operations, requiring no additional infrastructure. It is a giant yard by any measure, covering 158 000m2 (16 he c t a r e s) and 750 trailer staging bays.The site is located in Texas and belongs to a Fortune 100 company. (The Fortune 100 are the 100 largest companies in the US ranked by revenue.)“This campus is the first facility to commercially deploy a f leet of fully autonomous yard trucks,” says Zhao.The benefits of autonomous truck yards include lower operating costs in countries where drivers are in short supply and demand high wages, increased safet y, and round-the-clock operations in all types of weather. Autonomous vehicles can lower fuel consumption and maintenance expenses by optimising routes and driving styles to decrease vehicle wear and tear.They could be on America’s roads by 2027, according to autonomous vehicle company Aurora. The company plans to launch Horizon, the first autonomous service powered by the Aurora Driver.In October 2023, Aurora teamed up with Continental. In addition to making tyres, Continental is a global technology giant. The companies have joined forces to take self-driving technology to a commercial scale by jointly developing, manufacturing and servicing future generations of the Aurora Driver’s hardware. Continental will contribute a new fallback system, which will enable a driverless truck to continue to its destination after a primary autonomy system failure.Initially, autonomous trucks will ferry cargo between depots. However, it is not all smooth driving on public roads.In December 2023, Chinese autonomous truck technology leader TuSimple pulled out of the American market.What is more certain is the rollout of autonomous vehicles and systems of all sizes and shapes within the confines of warehouses and staging yards. They include automated guided vehicles such as forklifts and robotic pickers.Port operators are also embracing autonomous technology.Yangshan Port in Shanghai operates one of the world’s largest automated container terminals, with the highest level of automation around the globe.It handled 49 million TEUs in 2023.However, the port of Tuas in Singapore is on course to be the world’s largest fully automated port.The port is working in partnership with a range of technology partners. The port’s handling capacity is planned to reach 65 million units by 2040, which is nearly double the 37 million TEUs handled in 2022.
