Self-driving vehicles – the road to the future?

DHL Trend Research has launched its latest trend report, Self-Driving Vehicles in Logistics, which highlights the key elements and potential of autonomous technologies. The report sheds light on various best-practice applications of self-driving vehicles in various industries today, and also reveals a detailed look into the use cases of self-driving vehicles across the entire logistics value chain.
December 24, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

DHL Trend Research has launched its latest trend report, Self-Driving Vehicles in Logistics, which highlights the key elements and potential of autonomous technologies. The report sheds light on various best-practice applications of self-driving vehicles in various industries today, and also reveals a detailed look into the use cases of self-driving vehicles across the entire logistics value chain.

The report examines the hurdles to be crossed before self-driving technology reaches full maturity, and addresses the challenges of regulations, public acceptance and issues of liability and looks at various best-practice applications across several industries today.

It also takes detailed look into the existing technology that’s successfully used today as well as some future applications for self-driving vehicles in the logistics industry, which the report says provides some of the most ideal working environments for self-driving vehicles.

Examples include warehouses and other private and secure indoor locations where good, rather than people, are loaded and transported and relatively isolated and remote outdoor locations where harsh conditions and long hours can put human drivers at risk. The report authors, Matthias Heutger and Dr Markus Kückelhaus claim that it’s no surprise that the logistics industry has been deploying self-driving vehicles for several years and is adopting advances in self-driving technology more rapidly than many other industries.

Heutger and Kückelhaus claim there is no doubt that self-driving vehicles will change the world of logistics, as well as many aspects of our personal and business lives. The question is no longer ‘if but ‘when’ autonomous vehicles will appear on our streets and highways. As the speed of adoption increases, particularly in the ideal working environments of the logistics industry, it is clear that logistics service providers can have a key role to play.

Location Based Systems Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • Smartphone solution for parking performance
    March 31, 2017
    Automated parking offers optimised space utilisation and fewer damage complaints as David Crawford discovers. As cars become smarter, technology designed to make parking them more straightforward is developing in parallel. In turn, it is becoming clear that the places where vehicles spend much of their time will need to respond – more comprehensively than by supporting established aids such as smartphone-based parking location and reservation, or payment for time used.
    Read More
  • Smartphone solution for parking performance
    March 31, 2017
    Automated parking offers optimised space utilisation and fewer damage complaints as David Crawford discovers. As cars become smarter, technology designed to make parking them more straightforward is developing in parallel. In turn, it is becoming clear that the places where vehicles spend much of their time will need to respond – more comprehensively than by supporting established aids such as smartphone-based parking location and reservation, or payment for time used.
    Read More
  • Machine vision needs standards to fulfil ITS demands
    May 28, 2014
    No-one should expect the enabling qualities of machine vision to come free of charge but Jason Barnes finds there is still much that ITS stakeholders can do to help reduce costs. After many years of application in high-end solutions for the enforcement and tolling sectors, machine vision is gaining traction in more general areas of traffic management. Nevertheless, those OEMs producing transport-oriented solutions which incorporate machine vision and looking to increase the technology’s share of the ITS mar
    Read More
  • Transport Systems Catapult boss: ‘We can’t build our way out of congestion’
    March 4, 2019
    The UK Transport Systems Catapult’s CEO Paul Campion talks to Colin Sowman about helping companies develop tomorrow’s solutions – and explains why you can never build your way to empty roads The future of mobility is going to be driven by services.” That’s the opening position of Paul Campion, CEO of the Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) – the UK government organisation set up to help boost transport-related employment and the economy. Campion was previously with IBM and describes himself as a ‘techno o
    Read More

Highlighted Content