Chinese trucks without a driver hope to expand

They roam the highway between the Beijing and Tianjin Port: the large trucks, they were loaded and fully able to move.

There is certainly a safety driver in the seat, according to government regulations, but these trucks do not require, and many analysts say it will not take long before their departure.

When the “Safety Driver”, Hu Kangtian, 32, removes his hands first from the steering wheel, allows the truck to drive himself, it is somewhat impressive and annoying in equal measures.

For the initial stages of the trip, it is in full control. Then – at a certain point – it strikes some buttons, the strong and heavy machine leads itself, moving quickly along a public road to Tianjin.

“Of course, I felt a little fear the first time I was driving an independent truck,” says Haw. “But after spending a lot of time to monitor and test these machines, I think they are actually good and safe.”

While the truck deviates from the highway and the highest slope towards the outcome gates, the device still drives itself. On the other side of the Tollgate, Mr. Huo presses again on some buttons, and the official returned.

“My job as a safety driver is to work as another defense line. For example, in the event of an emergency, I must control the car immediately to ensure everyone’s safety,” he explains.

Regarding the cosmetics of the driver, he says that the shift to an independent situation can help in fighting stress and fatigue, as well as editing hands and feet for other tasks. He says he does not make his job boring, but he is more interesting.

When asked if he was concerned that this technology may make his job old, he says he does not know much about this.

It is the diplomatic answer.

“The Bonnie Eye Fleet without a driver, who is currently working on these test methods, is just the beginning of what will happen,” the company’s vice president Lee Hingio told the BBC.

“In the future, with driver -without operations, our transportation efficiency will definitely improve to a large extent,” he says. “For example, labor costs will be reduced, but most importantly, we can deal better with harsh environments and long -time hours.”

Industrial expert Yang Ruigang, a technology professor from the University of Shanghai Jiaotong, who has extensive experience in working on driver -free technology in China and the United States, says what all this is to save money.

“Anything that can reduce the operating costs is something the company wants to get, so it is somewhat easy to justify the investment in the presence of a completely independent truck without a driver.”

In short, he says, the goal is simple: “Reducing the cost of the driver near zero.”

However, there are still great obstacles before allowing trucks to drive on the roads all over the world – not the least of which is a general concern.

In China, self -driving technology suffered a large setback after an accident that killed three university students after their car was in a “automatic pilot” position.

The Economic Intelligence Unit, Shim Li, says the Chinese public still has a way to go before winning.

“We know that the recent incidents that involve passenger cars have caused a huge noise in China. Therefore, for trucks without driver – although they tend to be more specific to certain sites at the present time – the image of the public about it will be very crucial for policy makers, and for the market as well, compared to passenger vehicles.”

Professor Yang agrees that truck drivers are unlikely to lose their jobs in large numbers so far.

“We have to discuss the context.

In the province of Anhawi in East China, hundreds of driver’s driver connecting trucks are moving through the suburbs of the suburbs in Hafi – a city with a population of eight million population – such as motorcycles that are driven by humans and cars around them.

One day was one of the poorest cities of the country, but these days its government wants to know that it is a place in the future, ready to give new technology an opportunity.

Gary Huang, head of the independent car company, Rino.ai, says they have discovered a place in the market where they could send delivery trucks without a parcel driver from the large distribution centers run by fir mail companies to local neighborhood stations. At this point, motorcycle drivers take over, and fall into the front doors of people.

He tells us: “We allow the pursuit to stay within the areas of society to take over and decline while independent trucks deal with frequent long -distance trips. This enhances the efficiency of the entire system.”

Renault was also talking to other countries, and the company says that the fastest absorption of its cars will be in Australia later this year, when the supermarket series begins to use driver delivery vehicles.

Meanwhile, in China, they say they are now running more than 500 trucks with roads in more than 50 cities.

However, Hefei is still the most advanced.

Regardless of Renault, the city has now granted permission to other driver -driver delivery companies.

Gary Huang says this is due to a set of factors.

“The encouragement came from the government, followed by local experiences, gaining experience, refining regulations and ultimately allowing wide implementation.”

You can see it on the roads, change the corridors, with reference before turning, withdraw the red lights and avoid other traffic.

For fisher mail companies, the numbers tell the story.

According to the Director of Renault Regional for the Anhawi Province, Zhang Chichn, deliveries are not only faster, but companies can rent three independent electrical connection trucks that will last for several days without the need for fees at the same cost of one driver.

She says that she was detonated due to the pace of change in her industry and adds that she will not be surprised if long -distance heavy trucks are driving themselves routinely on roads in certain circumstances within five years.

Professor Yang agrees. “Heavy trucks operating along an unrestricted highway, at least five years.”

When asked if this might happen soon, he replies: “I’m completely sure of this. Actually, I am sure this will happen.”

Industry people say that the most urgent applications without driver trucks-apart from closed industrial areas, love mines or open ports-probably in harsh remote terrain with extremist environmental conditions, especially along vast extensions and in a largely straight path.

Technical challenges are still important though.

Heavy trucks need better cameras to follow a distance to discover risks along the way, in the same way as a person can; More difficult methods may also need additional sensors along the way; Other obstacles can include a collapse in harsh weather or sudden and unexpected risks arising amid very busy traffic.

Moreover, technology – when it comes to heavy trucks – is still not cheap. Moreover, these compounds are now modified old -style trucks instead of self -driving vehicles directly from the production line.

China wants to be a hero of new technology, but it must be careful as well, not only because of the possibility of fatal accidents but also because of how the Chinese people see this transformation.

“This is not only about loyalty. It is not only about building a public image,” says Chem Lee. “But, over time, the audience will see the benefit of this technology, and see how it will reduce the costs of buying things, or looking at them as a way to imagine that society is improving, instead of looking at this technology that may destroy, causes car accidents or removes employment opportunities.”

Professor Yang sees another problem. “We humans can carry another human driver who makes errors, but we forgive us with self -government trucks are not much lower. The machines are not supposed to make mistakes. Therefore, we have to make sure that the system is very reliable.”