Sweden / USA - Sweden’s heavy-duty truck builder, Scania AB of Södertälje has been granted permission by the Swedish Transport Agency to test self-driving trucks on the 130 km of the E4 motorway between Södertälje and Jönköping. The tests will occur in collaboration with TuSimple*, a San Diego, US-based developer of autonomous vehicles and a key partner in Scania’s and the Traton Group’s strategic investment in this field.

The trucks will enter commercial service with the Scania Transport Laboratory and will be loaded with goods for Scania’s production operations. The tests will cover technology according to Level 4 on the 5-point SAE scale for self-driving vehicles, which means the trucks are driven autonomously but, for safety reasons, are supervised by a driver. A test engineer will also be on board during Scania’s tests with the task of monitoring and verifying the information which is transmitted from the sensors to the truck enabling autonomous driving. Later this year, Scania plans to expand the tests to cover the entire 530 km route between Södertälje and Helsingborg.