UK well positioned to benefit from autonomous lorries, says Inrix

Driver shortage, commercially-viable roads and Brexit uncertainty position the UK to develop and benefit from autonomous freighting, says Inrix. The analytics company's latest report has identified the A1 from Sheffield to Edinburgh as the most suitable corridor for testing highly automated vehicles (HAV). The Inrix Automated Freight Corridor Assessment reveals the next best-suited corridor is the M5/A38 from Plymouth to Birmingham, followed by the M4 from Swindon to Swansea.
September 24, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Driver shortage, commercially-viable roads and Brexit uncertainty position the UK to develop and benefit from autonomous freighting, says 163 Inrix. The analytics company's latest %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external report false http://inrix.com/press-releases/automated-freight-uk/ false false%> has identified the A1 from Sheffield to Edinburgh as the most suitable corridor for testing highly automated vehicles (HAV).


The Inrix Automated Freight Corridor Assessment reveals the next best-suited corridor is the M5/A38 from Plymouth to Birmingham, followed by the M4 from Swindon to Swansea.

Inrix believes a successful deployment of autonomous lorries could address the shortage of qualified HGV drivers in the UK and the uncertainty of freedom of movement after Brexit.  

The company refers to a %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external report false https://fta.co.uk/compliance-and-advice/economy/skills-shortage/skills-shortage false false%> by the 6983 Freight Transport Association, which confirmed a lack of 52,000 qualified HGV lorry operators in the UK during 2017, with 14% of the workforce consisting of EU nationals.

Avery Ash, autonomous vehicle market strategist at Inrix, says HAVs require smart planning to prevent them from clogging roads, increasing pollution and presenting safety issues.

“Fortunately, our data analysis shows that there are a range of roads in the UK that are both suitable and commercially viable for trial and initial deployment of autonomous freight vehicles,” Ash adds.

Inrix ranked the M6 from Manchester to Glasgow, stretching nearly 215 miles, as the most feasible route for commercial returns due to low congestion. It is followed by the A1 from Sheffield to Edinburgh and then by the M5/A38 from Plymouth to Birmingham.

According to Inrix, the M25 circling London is the top corridor which requires safety improvements due to its levels of dangerous slowdown incidents per mile. The M6 from Coventry to Manchester comes in at second place, followed by and the M5/A38 from Plymouth to Birmingham.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Final eCoMove event
    September 17, 2013
    The eCoMove final event, to be held at Eurogress, Aachen, Germany, from 20-21 November, offers a variety of events including a conference, an exhibition presenting the final results of the project and live driving demonstrations on public roads. Showcasing state-of-the-art cooperative intelligent transportation systems (ITS) for energy efficiency, the event will look at mitigating the environmental impacts of road transport through the latest ITS technologies: eCoMove technological advances aim to lower roa
    Read More
  • UK Cyclists, pedestrians and equestrians need roads with them in mind
    January 12, 2018
    Cyclists, pedestrians and equestrians would prefer improvements on Highways England's (HE's) road network to be open to all types of user – but safely, with areas of greater risk identified and appropriate interventions made, according to a new report from Transport Focus (TF). The independent watchdog engaged with these road users across the UK who stressed the importance of the network in affecting their everyday lives. Key findings showed that safety is of crucial importance to all three groups when
    Read More
  • Next Generation mobile computers launched by 4P
    November 19, 2013
    4P Mobile Data Processing is launching the latest versions of its FDA600-POS all-in-one handheld computer devices at CARTES 2013. The new machines “feature fiscal cash registers, chip&pin payments and biometric signature capture,” says 4P. The units are “light, compact and durable,” and allow “operators to track goods, people and locations with barcodes and RFID, shoot and geotag pictures, (create) videos and auto-ID, and stay permanently connected to remote servers via high speed wireless data”. There is a
    Read More
  • PlascoTex unveils new lamination tech that will cut costs
    October 30, 2013
    PlascoTec has developed two special coatings - PlascoSAM and PlascoSLIDE - for lamination plates which it says will reduce wear and improve anti-stick performance “drastically”, thus allowing coatings card manufacturers to reduce production costs. PlascoSLIDE reduces the adhesion of foils (PC, PVC, PET- G) as well as unwanted residues from the lamination process on the lamination plate surface, improving product quality and cutting the need for cleaning during production. Meanwhile PlascoSAM has high ha
    Read More

Highlighted Content