Volvo Makes First Commercial Deal Using Self-Driving Trucks

Volvo’s first autonomous commercial truck will be used for limestone mining. According to VentureBeat, the automotive company Volvo has signed a deal with the Norwegian mine Bronnoy Kalk to use its self-driving trucks to transport limestone from the mine to a nearby port.

This is the first time Volvo’s self-driving trucks will be officially used in a commercial project outside of a pilot test. In 2016, Volvo first began testing autonomous trucks in an underground Swedish mine as a way to demonstrate the technology’s safety and efficiency.

Volvo’s autonomous trucks have come a long way since. In the last two years, Volvo has tested self-driving trucks in Brazil to help sugarcane farmers. They’ve also tested an autonomous garbage truck.

So far, Volvo’s autonomous trucks and others like them have seen greater success than their smaller self-driving counterparts. Self-driving cars haven’t been well-received and the accidents many autonomous vehicles have seen in California haven’t help bolster the nation’s confidence.

Although most of the accidents involving self-driving vehicles are caused by the humans involved in the collisions, the jury is still out on whether Americans feel comfortable enough on the road with autonomous vehicles.

Self-driving cars have been known to have problems driving in dense, metropolitan areas where the actions of other drivers are harder to predict. Up to 200,000 car accidents were caused over a four year period by errant debris alone, and that was with human drivers involved.

Self-driving trucks, on the other hand, don’t have to worry about dense city traffic or pedestrians running across the street. In fact, most trucks drive thousands of miles along open highways where traffic is sparse. About 11 billion tons of freight are shipped over 250 billion miles by trucks every year.

What’s more, self-driving cars are new in a world where 14 million vehicles on the road are at least 25 years old. Self-driving trucks, at least when used in the construction industry, aren’t so new.

The construction industry, and other industries where repetitive actions are necessary, have been relying on automation for years. In 2017 alone, more than $4 billion worth of metalworking fluids were consumed for transportation equipment and other machines.

With autonomous truck working in spaces that are designed for the humans around them to take great care and with the tasks they’re performing remaining simple, it may be possible that self-driving trucks are here to stay. Whether that’s true depends on the success of Volvo’s limestone-hauling truck.

“It is exciting to reach this point where we introduce autonomous solutions,” said Sasko Cuklev, the director of autonomous solutions at Volvo. “By working in a confined area on a predetermined route, we can find out how to get the best out of the solution and tailor it according to specific customer needs.”

“This is all about collaborating to develop new solutions,” Cuklev said, “providing greater flexibility and efficiency, as well as increased productivity.”

As a way to collaborate to develop new solutions, Volvo isn’t selling its autonomous trucks to the Bronnoy Kalk mine. Instead, it’s selling its transport service. Bronnoy Kalk pays Volvo per tonne of limestone delivered rather than buying the trucks.

The goal of this business model is for Volvo to be able to easily convince companies to invest in their autonomous trucks. Because the service requires a minimal up-front investment, businesses may be less nervous about liability issues in the face of new technology.

“This is an important step for us,” said Raymond Langfjord, the mine managing director at Bronnoy Kalk. “The competition in the industry is tough. We are continuously looking to increase our efficiency and productivity long-term, and we have to have a clear vision of taking advantage of new opportunities in technology and digital solutions.”

Bronnoy Kalk will be using six autonomous Volvo trucks, which will be operating entirely by themselves by the end of 2019. “Going autonomous,” said Langfjord, “will greatly increase our competitiveness in a tough global market.”