Japanese company Robotrack, together with the L4 Logistics consortium — which brings together major players ORIX and Senko — conducted public road trials of autonomous semi-trailers. The event took place as part of a demonstration project initiated by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, aimed at introducing autonomous freight transportation on the country’s trunk routes.
It is worth noting that semi-trailers have a significantly greater load capacity compared to conventional box trucks. In addition, this logistics model makes it possible to separate loading and unloading operations at hubs from the actual movement of the vehicle along the route. This approach allows for reduced vehicle downtime and improved load factor for each trip.
The trials were conducted on a stretch between two TSUNAGU STATION logistics hubs located in Hamamatsu and Shin-Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture, both operated by Senko. The autonomous driving section was the Shin-Tomei Expressway, running from the Shin-Fuji IC interchange to the Hamamatsu SA Smart IC. Over the entire demonstration period, the autonomous semi-trailers covered a total distance of approximately 4,800 kilometers (source: response.jp).