Self-driving lorries hit the road in Sweden

Barrelling down a motorway south of Stockholm in a 40-tonne lorry and trailer, the driver keeps a careful eye on the road but, jarringly, no hands on the wheel. 'We take their goods from point A, drive them to point B, fully autonomously,' Peter Hafmar, head of autonomous solutions at Scania, tells AFP outside the company's transport lab in Sodertalje, south of Stockholm. Inside the cab, the wheel and seats are where you'd expect to find them, but small devices and screens dot the dashboard and a nest of wires run to the computer rack housed behind the passenger seat. The lorry combines all the input from the various sensors with a GPS system, with the different technologies acting as back-ups for each other. But he acknowledges that a lot of trial and error has gone into getting the truck to that point. The lorry's sensors are also calibrated daily before hitting the road. 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. 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. A host of other companies are also in the race to launch self-driving trucks. 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.

Self-driving lorries hit the road in Sweden

Swedish truck maker Scania is not the only auto manufacturer developing autonomous vehicles, but it recently became the first in Europe to pilot them while delivering commercial goods.