Volvo Trucks shows its future transport solution

Volvo Trucks has presented its new transport solution consisting of autonomous electric commercial vehicles. Volvo says the long-term goal is to offer companies that need continuous transport services between fixed hubs a complement to the vehicles we use today.

Growing world population and increasing urbanisation are leading to significant challenges to solve environmental issues such as congestion, pollution and noise. Rising consumption, and the wide-spread shortage of drivers are some of the issues pushing manufacturers to find efficient transport solutions.

“The full potential of the transport industry is yet to be seen,” says Claes Nilsson, President Volvo Trucks.

“Everything suggests that the global need for transportation will continue to significantly increase in the coming decade. The transport system we are developing can be an important complement to today’s solutions and can help meet many of the challenges faced by society, transport companies and transport buyers,” Nilsson added.

Volvo Trucks’ future transport solution is intended to be used for regular and repetitive tasks characterised by relatively short distances, large volumes of goods and high delivery precision. Transports between logistic hubs are typical examples, but additional use cases can also be applicable.

“Our system can be seen as an extension of the advanced logistics solutions that many industries already apply today. Since we use autonomous vehicles with no exhaust emissions and low noise, their operation can take place at any time of day or night,” explains Mikael Karlsson, Vice President Autonomous Solutions.

“The solution utilises existing road infrastructure and load carriers, making it easier to recoup costs and allowing for integration with existing operations,” he added.

The operation is handled by autonomous electric vehicles linked to a cloud service and a transport control centre. The vehicles are equipped with sophisticated systems for autonomous driving. They are designed to locate their current position to within centimetres, monitor in detail and analyse what is happening with other road users, and then respond accurately.

The transport control centre continuously monitors the progress of the transport and keeps an accurate watch of each vehicle’s position, the amount of charge in the batteries, load content, service requirements and a number of other parameters.

As with an industrial production process, speed and progress are tailored to avoid unnecessary waiting and to increase delivery precision. In this way it will be possible to minimise waste in the form of buffer stocks, and increase availability. Vehicles that operate on the same route cooperate to create optimal flow.

In the near future, Volvo Trucks says its transport solution will be further developed together with selected customers in real-world applications.