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Freight vehicle autonomy / Self-driving trucks are on the horizon

Self-driving trucks are on the horizon

CJ Logistics and Lotte Global Logistics demonstrate autonomous driving on trunk line transportation

2024/04

Self-driving vehicles are expected to be introduced to parcel delivery trunk lines in the near future. With the revision of the Autonomous Vehicle Act at the end of February, the institutional foundation has been laid for the commercialization of autonomous vehicles with certified performance and safety.

In response, CJ Logistics and Lotte Global Logistics, in collaboration with autonomous driving startup Masuto, have begun demonstrating the operation of trunk delivery vehicles using self-driving trucks.

CJ Logistics will operate an 11-ton truck carrying actual parcel delivery products six times a week on a 218-kilometer trunk route from CJ Logistics' Incheon Jangjang Center to Okcheon Hub Terminal. The pilot project, which will run for about a year from the end of March, will further enhance the perfection of autonomous driving.

In general, large trucks weighing more than 11 tons have a high level of autonomous driving difficulty. This is because they have a large and heavy body, carry a lot of cargo, and have a long braking distance, which requires quick judgment and prediction when applying autonomous driving. On the other hand, trunkline vehicles have the advantage of repeating the same route every day and most of the routes are highways.

The Incheon-Okcheon trunk line passes through the 2nd Gyeongin Expressway, Yeongdong Expressway, and Gyeongbu Expressway, and highways account for about 93% of the route. The self-driving trucks on this route will drive manually in the city center and switch to autonomous driving on the highway. The driver is on board in case of emergencies and can switch to manual driving if necessary.

CJ Logistics has completed the verification of autonomous driving performance step by step after years of research and development. In 2022, CJ Logistics ran four 60-kilometer trips from Danwon Subterminal to Gonjiam Hub Terminal, and in 2023, CJ Logistics ran six 258-kilometer trips from Gunpo Subterminal to Daejeon Hub Terminal with actual cargo, and also conducted tests in various driving conditions such as day and night, rainy weather, tunnels, and emergency situations.

CJ Logistics expects autonomous driving to reduce the work intensity of truck drivers and improve safety. Driving trucks, which are mainly driven at night on long highway routes, is highly fatiguing. The full-scale introduction of autonomous trucks on highways, which account for about 97 percent of middle-mile transportation, is expected to help resolve these difficulties.

CJ Logistics plans to upgrade its autonomous driving system through a pilot project with Masuoto and expand the number of routes and vehicles to which autonomous driving is applied step by step. CJ Logistics also plans to accelerate the development of autonomous driving-based logistics automation technologies, such as driverless shuttles in ports and unmanned berthing at terminal docks.

Lotte Global Logistics is conducting the second demonstration project of autonomous cargo vehicles. From April to September last year, the company completed the first demonstration project on a 255-kilometer stretch of highway (Sejong to Busan), and since January this year, it has expanded the autonomous driving section to 593 kilometers (Jincheon to Yangsan (308 kilometers) and Sacheon to Icheon (285 kilometers)).

The first demonstration project of autonomous cargo vehicles confirmed the stability of autonomous driving technology and improved fuel efficiency by an average of 11.8%.

Lotte Global Logistics plans to further expand the middle-mile autonomous driving section in the future, and is also considering operating a terminal (transfer hub) for autonomous trucks.