The global freight transport market is facing a labor crisis. This is what the data says, pointing to a shortage of goods in Europe, North America and China. But also in Australia or Argentina. In search of solutions, Chinese companies are already proposing a way out: autonomous truck caravans.
Shortage. 75% of the goods They are transported by road. 85% of the transport of perishable products opt for the same type of route. Although the transport of goods by train increases, the truck continues to be the alternative that best combines flexibility with contained costs and high efficiency for most companies.
But these contained costs aim to disappear. According to the International Road Transport Organization (IRU) there is a global shortage of 3.6 million truck drivers. It is more or less 7% of the total places that are active right now. And the prospects are even worse.
Road to retirement. The sector has a problem: retirement. A significant number of truck drivers are very close to slamming the door on their cabins. In Europe alone it is estimated that, in this year 2026, there will be a gap between supply and demand of one million truck drivers. And the problem is that the increase in online commerce will only aggravate this situation.
By 2030, they believe that there will be a lack of 11% of the places necessary to cover the volume of work that would be necessary to effectively transport all the goods that will be put on the road. This situation is, according to IRUespecially serious in China where they estimate that before the end of the decade 19% of the truck drivers who are currently working will have retired.
Let them go alone. With these perspectives on the table, Pony AIa company specialized in artificial intelligence that has your own autonomous car service in China and that has reached a agreement with Stellantis to advance joint developments for Europe, has announced that it has an autonomous truck solution to advance in a caravan.
The idea is that the trucks in advance in a 1+4 convoy. Thus, the first of the vehicles is driven by a human and the four remaining autonomous trucks travel completely autonomously, guided by the first but applying level 4 autonomy. That is, trucks can circulate without anyone at the wheel.
2026. The project has a date: this year. Pony AI announced a few weeks ago a collaboration agreement with Sany, a vehicle production company for industrial work or the transportation of goods that will provide the hardware. The digital brain is provided by Pony AI. Together they believe they can have these self-driving truck caravans ready this year.
If they are mass produced, they would be the first in the world to manufacture 5G, completely autonomous and electric trucks, They boast from Sany. According to their accounts, it is a business that will reduce the cost per kilometer by 29% and that can boost the operating margin of companies by 195%.
First tests. In BBC They report that China was already experimenting with autonomous trucks last year. “Of course, I was a little scared the first time I drove an autonomous truck. But, after spending a lot of time observing and testing these vehicles, I think they are actually quite good and safe,” said one of the truck drivers who have gotten behind the wheel in these tests to take control if necessary.
In the video You can see how the trucks circulated alone between Beijing and Tianjin, a route of more than 100 kilometers. It explains that the driver takes control in the first stages of the journey and must be seated to take the wheel at specific times. However, most of the trip is made without making any decisions and with four trucks behind him.
Experience. Sany is not inexperienced in this sector either. The company, in addition to electric trucks for Pony AI, has also worked with industrial use vehicles such as trucks to transport minerals.
In this videoFor example, a mine is shown in which an operator controls an excavator remotely. With it, it fills trucks with the extracted materials and these, once full, move completely autonomously to transport these minerals and make room for a new vehicle that has already made the same journey previously. A way of working that is also being studied Huawei.
Photo | Pony AI
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