Tech Mitsui to launch self-driving truck service by 2026

The move comes as Japan amended a law in April, allowing level-4 autonomous vehicles to operate on public roads. A high level of autonomous driving technology is expected to be used practically, especially in the logistics industry, which suffers from a chronic labour shortage in Japan. [...] The company aims to launch a logistics business using self-driving trucks on highways between Tokyo and Osaka, which account for around 20% of Japan's trunk line transport market of 2 trillion yen ($14.2 billion) as early as 2026. The company will leverage the spatial-recognition technology developed by PFN, which has worked on self-driving together with Toyota Motor. The recognition system gathers data on roads and other cars using sensors, cameras, and radar installed on cars. It also analyzes GPS data.

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thomas said:

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Autonomous trucks will be the first to hit the roads, or the highways, as it's much easier to send trucks on fixed delivery routes. Navigating urban traffic and dealing with pedestrians and cyclists will be a technological nightmare for self-driving taxis and private vehicles.

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thomas said:

I imagine they'll set up highway transport hubs and use human-crewed trucks to deliver the goods to their final destination. I wonder if it's going to be cheaper than conventional trucking.

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