KUALA LUMPUR: MAN Truck & Bus has become the first manufacturer of commercial vehicles to deploy an autonomous truck on a German motorway.
The company has been actively advancing the development of autonomous trucks for use in logistics hubs and for hub-to-hub traffic on motorways. Most recently, it became the first commercial vehicle manufacturer to be granted a Level 4 test permit in accordance with the German law governing autonomous driving on motorways.
In a statement, the company said that there is a steady increase in freight volumes and transportation between logistics centres, which include the warehouses of major online department shops.
The use of autonomous trucks in this so-called hub-to-hub transport is particularly suitable for this, it said.
The company said that the efficient use of autonomous trucks can reduce overall operating costs by 10 to 15 per cent in the long term. The new technology can also alleviate the driver shortage, as there is already a shortage of up to 100,000 truck drivers in Germany alone.
"Today we are taking another big step towards autonomous commercial vehicles, the second major future field alongside the switch to CO2-free drives. This year, we are initially running tests with prototypes on the highway.
"Further hub-to-hub projects will follow in 2025, but only in typical customer applications. We are thus taking the next development step towards series production of autonomous trucks towards the end of the decade.
"To realise autonomous driving, however, we also need to work closely with infrastructure operators such as Autobahn GmbH. Only together can we put autonomous driving on the road," said MAN Truck & Bus SE. chairman and executive board member Alexander Vlaskamp.
Autobahn GmbH des Bundes technical managing director Dirk Brandenburger said the company plays a central role in autonomous driving on German motorways.
"We not only approve autonomous driving on certain motorway sections, but also actively promote networking and communication between motorway infrastructure and vehicles with so-called cooperative intelligent transport systems. This is of crucial importance for the authorisation and therefore the safety of autonomous vehicles on the road," he said.
MAN has been collaborating on the ATLAS-L4 project with Autobahn GmbH and other industry, academic, and technical testing partners since 2022. The goal of this project is to create an autonomous vehicle that can be driven between logistics centers on highways.
In line with Germany's 2021 autonomous driving law, the initiative aims to fulfil the legal framework's potential by allowing autonomous operation on designated routes under technical supervision.
Practical prototype test drives with a safety driver are planned for the project's completion as it moves forward.
To date, MAN has filed 133 patent applications in the field of autonomous driving, 33 of which have already been granted.