The advent of self-driving trucks can be seen as a threat to the jobs of truck drivers -- one of the world's most common professions.
But Hafmar insists autonomous vehicles are needed to address a global driver shortage.
And, he says, it will be a long time before artificial intelligence will be able to handle all aspects of logistics.
Initially, self-driving lorries will likely be used for long-haul trips, but the last-mile distribution to shops and customers "will happen with human drivers", Hafmar adds.
According to a report from the International Road Transport Union (IRU) in June, there were some 2.6 million unfilled positions for truck drivers around the world in 2021.
Hafmar also points out other potential benefits: since computers don't need to sleep or rest, the vehicles can be scheduled for trips at times when there is less traffic, or drive slower -- but for longer -- to save on fuel.
A host of other companies are also in the race to launch self-driving trucks.
Start-ups Aurora, Waymo, Embark, Kodiak and Torc (together with Daimler) are running tests in the United States, while China's Baidu announced a self-driving truck in late 2021.
In Europe, IVECO is working with Californian start-up Plus, supported by Amazon, and recently announced the end of their first phase of circuit testing. They will also launch road tests.
Swedish company Einride also plans to launch road tests in Germany soon.
