Chinese trucks without a driver hope to expand

They thunder on the highway between Beijing and the port of Tianzin: large trucks loaded and fully capable of navigating.

Of course, the seat has a safety engine, according to government regulations, but these trucks do not require them, and many analysts say it will not take long before they are gone.

When the Safety driver, Huo Kangtian, 32, first removed his hands from the steering wheel and leaves the truck himself to drive, he is somehow impressive and disturbing in equal measures.

For the initial stages of the trip he is in complete control. Then – at some point – he hits several buttons, and the powerful, heavy machine moves, moving at a public road to Tianjin.

“Of course, I felt a little scared the first time I was driving an autonomous truck,” says G -n Ho. “But after spending a lot of time monitoring and testing these machines, I think they are actually quite good and safe.”

As the truck deviates from the highway and up the ramp to the road charges, the machine is still moving. On the other side of Tollgate, d -n Huo again presses a few buttons and it is again at the helm.

“My job as a safety driver is to act as the last line of defense. For example, in the event of an emergency, I will have to immediately take control of the vehicle to guarantee everyone’s safety,” he explains.

With regard to driver pillows, he says that switch to autonomous mode can help fight stress and fatigue, as well as release hands and feet for other tasks. He says that this does not make his job boring, but much more interesting.

Asked if he worried that this technology could one day make his work outdated, he said he didn’t know too much about it.

This is the diplomatic response.

The Pony AI fleet of trucks without a driver who is currently working on these test routes is only the beginning of the upcoming, company Vice President Li Hengiu told the BBC.

“In the future, in the operations without drivers, our transport efficiency will definitely be significantly improved,” he says. “For example, labor costs will be reduced, but more importantly, we can do better with heavy environments and long hours of driving.”

What all this is about is the saving of money, says industry expert Jan Rugang, a professor of technology at the University of Shanghai Jiaotong, who has extensive experience working on technology without a driver in both China and the United States.

“All that can reduce operating costs is something that the company would like to have, so it’s quite easy to justify the investment in a fully autonomous truck without drivers,” he told the BBC.

In short, according to him, the goal is simple: “Reduce driver costs near zero.”

However, there are significant obstacles before the trucks are allowed to move around the world – last but not least is a concern for society.

In China, self -driving technology has suffered a major failure after an incident, which killed three students after their car was in the auto producer mode.

Economist Intelligence Unit Lee Lee’s analyst says the Chinese public still has a lot of way to pass before it is won.

“We know that the latest accidents involving passenger cars have caused great disturbance in China. So for trucks without drivers – although they tend to be more specific to certain places for the moment – the image of the public will be absolutely critical for the creators of policies, as well as for the market, compared to passenger vehicles.”

Professor Yang agrees that it is unlikely that the offices of the cabinets will lose their work in a large number.

“We need to discuss the context. Open medium? Probably not. High speed? Definitely not. But if this is a low speed situation, like the last trucks to deliver the last mile, it is already here.”

In the province of Anhui in eastern China, hundreds of drivers delivery vans are moving on their way along the suburban streets of Haphei, a city with an official population of eight million – such as human -driven scooters and the cars around them.

It was once one of the richest cities in the country, but nowadays his government wants to be known as a place of the future prepared to give a chance to the new technology.

Gary Huang, president of the autonomous vehicle company, Rino.Ai, says they have found a market niche where non -drivers delivery vans can send parcels from major distribution centers managed by courier companies to local neighborhood stations. At that moment, scooter drivers take over, dropping the packages to people’s front doors.

“We allow the couriers to stay in the community areas to make a pickup and give up while autonomous vans deal with recurring, longer distances. This increases the efficiency of the whole system,” he tells us.

Rino also talks with other countries, and the company says that the fastest absorption of its vehicles will be in Australia later this year, when the supermarket chain will start using their vehicles for delivery.

In China, in China, they say that more than 500 vans with access to more than 50 cities are now working.

However, Hephai remains the most pre -before.

In addition to Rino, the city also gave permission to other delivery companies without drivers to work.

Gary Huang says this is due to a combination of factors.

“Encouragement comes from the government, followed by local experiments, accumulation of experience, improving regulations, and ultimately allows widespread application.”

And you can see them on the roads, change sails, pointing to before they turn, pull in red lights and avoid other traffic.

For courier companies, the numbers tell the story.

According to Reno Regional Director for the province of Anhui Gian Tsic, supplies are not only faster, but companies can hire three autonomous electric vans that will work for days without needing a fee for the same price as a driver.

She says she has been blown up by the pace of change in her industry and adds that she will not be surprised if heavy, long trucks regularly move on roads in certain circumstances within five years.

Professor Yang agrees. “Heavy trucks moving on the highway unlimited, at least five years old.”

Asked if he really could happen so soon, he replies: “I’m almost sure it will happen. I am actually confident that this will happen.”

The internal industries say that the most immediate applications for truck-free truck applications in the closed industrial zones, liked mines or ports are probably in remote, raw terrain with extreme environmental conditions, especially during huge sections and largely straight trajectory.

However, significant technical challenges remain.

Heavy trucks need better cameras to follow a long way to find dangers much further down the road, in the same way one can; More difficult roads may be needed to place additional sensors along the route; Other obstacles may include breakdowns at extreme time or sudden, unexpected dangers that occur among very busy traffic.

On top of that – when it comes to heavy trucks – it’s not yet cheap. Moreover, these vehicles are currently modified trucks of old style, not self -governing vehicles directly from the production line.

China wants to be a new technology champion, but it must also be careful, not only because of the potential for deadly accidents, but also for how the Chinese can look at this change.

“It’s not just about the implementation of regulations. It’s not just about building a public image,” says Chim Lee. “But over time, the public will see the benefit of this technology, see how it will reduce their costs to buy things or consider it as a way to imagine that society improves instead of considering this as a technology that potentially destroys, causing car accidents or eliminating employment opportunities.”

Professor Jan sees another problem. “We humans can tolerate another human driver who makes mistakes, but our tolerance to autonomous trucks is much less. Machines should not make mistakes. So, we have to be sure that the system is extremely reliable.”