Demand for driverless tech goes up in US

A quest for lower costs and efficiently moving goods and groups of people is pushing demand for driverless technology in trucks and shuttles in the US. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Aurora and California startup Gatik are among companies developing self-driving technology for vehicles that operate on set routes. These companies, which mainly develop autonomous technology to equip vehicles, win large new customers like IKEA and Walmart, as well as local governments. Gatik won grocer Kroger and processed food maker Tyson Foods as clients this year. The company operates traditional midsized trucks fitted with its autonomous technology that deliver goods on routes that avoid hospitals and schools, and it has been hiring aggressively and plans to deepen its presence in several states. Aurora said it is on track to start hauling freight without a driver between Dallas and Houston by the end of next year, according to a Reuters report.

“We still think trucking is poised to be the first true scaling rollout of autonomous technology,” said Don Burnette, CEO of Kodiak Robotics, which runs long-haul autonomous trucks between Houston and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Burnette said Kodiak was on track next year to start getting on the road without the safety drivers who currently stay behind the wheel. Limiting the risk of deploying across a densely populated city, Michigan-based driverless shuttle operator May Mobility aims to complement or replace human-driven transit systems within a specific area of a city. It has struck deals with local authorities.

Building and commercialising driverless vehicles, especially robotaxis, has been harder and costlier than initially imagined and has prompted regulatory concerns, investor anxiety and public criticism. Detractors complain that robotaxis have disrupted traffic and put people at risk due to erratic driving or abrupt stops in the middle of busy roads.

Despite recent setbacks for driverless technology this year and more regulatory focus expected ahead, some companies have managed to win investments. May Mobility and Aurora raised money. Stack AV – launched by founders of self-driving startup Argo AI which was backed by Ford and Volkswagen – has attracted investments from SoftBank. “There’s been a shift towards trucking in terms of the work being done in autonomy,” said David Bruemmer, a board adviser at the Autonomy Institute, an industry consortium that helps research and deploy autonomous infrastructure.

Self-driving trucks and shuttles that are low-speed and which operate on pre-defined routes, for use in industries such as port logistics, are seen as more valuable services and less risky, he said.

Still, the autonomous trucking industry has not been immune to challenges. Several startups have struggled to continue funding their quest to develop heavy driverless trucks, slashing jobs and shutting shops, the Reuters report adds. Truckers and labour unions have called for a ban on self-driving trucks, some of which weigh over 80,000 pounds (36,287 kg), saying they were unsafe and would lead to job losses. A recent report in the Independent states that vehicles that take care of themselves and the driver are the future, according to the government, which are mentioned in the King’s Speech on 7 November: “Self-driving vehicles will make transport safer, more convenient and more accessible, improving the lives of millions of people.” It went on to state: “With 88 per cent of accidents currently involving human error, the potential for automated vehicles to reduce costs, injuries, and fatalities is enormous. They will empower people across the country to get around more easily, including to school or work which will boost productivity.”

The 2023 King’s Speech promised that “ministers will introduce new legal frameworks to support the safe commercial development of emerging industries, such as self-driving vehicles.”

At present self-driving vehicles in the UK are largely limited to a bus shuttle across the Forth Road Bridge in Scotland and the Heathrow Pod, which connects Terminal 5 with a car park along a dedicated track.