Report: Managing the transition to driverless road freight transport

The International Transport Forum, in partnership with the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) is working on a project which examines the impact of driverless trucks. It focuses on developments in Europe and North America, with some evidence drawn from other continents, such as automated trains and mining equipment in Australia. The aim is to consider whether driverless road freight trans
May 16, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The 998 International Transport Forum, in partnership with the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (6175 ACEA) is working on a project which examines the impact of driverless trucks. It focuses on developments in Europe and North America, with some evidence drawn from other continents, such as automated trains and mining equipment in Australia.


The aim is to consider whether driverless road freight transport might be developed, allowed and adopted over the next two decades. There would be powerful motivations for introducing driverless trucks on a large scale, such as cost or safety.

The project seeks to develop evidence-based scenarios of how a transition to self-driving trucks could unfold and to also offer a plan to manage the disruptions to the livelihoods of affected drivers.

The final report will be published on 31 May 2017 during the International Transport Forum’s 2017 Summit of transport ministers in Leipzig, Germany.

It suggests scenarios for how the transition could happen; examines potential applications for driverless trucks; contains numbers on potential job losses; looks at the development of alternative adoption scenarios, and makes recommendations to governments how to prepare.

Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • June 22, 2016
    UK needs new freight strategy says report
    The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is calling for the UK Government to urgently introduce a national multi-modal freight strategy in a move to ease traffic congestion, improve air quality and boost the economy. According to its report ‘UK freight: in for the long haul’ up to 30 per cent of all haulage vehicles on UK roads are empty and about 150 million miles are driven unnecessarily by lorry drivers. It claims a national strategy could outline plans to make better use of urban consolidation centres
    Read More
  • May 28, 2013
    Global Summit of Transport Ministers calls for better transport funding
    Ministers from the 54 member countries of the International Transport Forum are calling for more investment in strategic transport infrastructure and services. In a joint Declaration on Funding Transport agreed during their 2013 Summit in Leipzig, Germany, ministers stated that funding transport is a major challenge for transport policy today. The demand for mobility through high-quality transport networks and services is growing fast. They say transport infrastructure is much more than asphalt, concrete or
    Read More
  • June 2, 2014
    Strike action prompts commuters to try something different
    David Crawford highlights responses to transit disruption on both sides of the Atlantic. Shortly before workers at San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) began a lengthy round of pay and conditions-related strikes in summer 2013, impacting on the daily lives of 400,000 communities, online ridesharing group Avego publicised a new web address: bartstrike.com. By the start of the following week, Avego was encouraging stranded commuters to download its smartphone app by offering them the chance in a raffle
    Read More
  • December 4, 2014
    ITF releases projections for modal shares, emissions
    New projections, released today by the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD during the COP20 climate change negotiations in Lima, Peru, highlight a critical choice for policy makers: whether to pursue urbanisation based on public transport or on private transport with cars and two-wheelers. Big cities in China, India and Latin America with over 500,000 inhabitants will more than double their share of world passenger transport emissions by 2050 to 20 per cent (2010: 9 per cent), if current urba
    Read More

Highlighted Content