The automated terminal tractors will enter service in the first quarter of 2027 at Maasvlakte 2, an extension of the Port of Rotterdam and an ongoing construction project which was opened in 2013.

When it opens, the hub will host pilot testing with customers, leading onto full commercialisation in 2027.

When Jim Hutchinson – today the CEO and founder of Fusion Processing Ltd, an autonomous vehicle technology company based in Bristol – began his career in electronic engineering, he could not have imagined that the radar and sensor equipment he was working on would eventually be used to make buses and trucks that can drive themselves. “I can’t claim to have been that visionary [back then],” he told Truck & Bus Builder in an interview. The realisation dawned in the late 2000s, when Hutchinson saw that the growing need for sophisticated sensors in the automotive sector – used at that time for advanced driver assistance systems – would “ultimately” lead to self-driving vehicles navigating with a combination of cameras, radars, and other perception hardware.

The Karsan Level 4 autonomous e-ATAK is set to start carrying passengers in Gothenburg between the Central Station and Liseberg Station in August 2025.

Plus says it will incorporate the H.E.L.P. system in its self-driving trucks, mitigating risks in the event that a truck is rendered inoperable by a system or base vehicle issue.

Perrone will supply four Ford ‘E-Transit’ vans, which will be converted to carry passengers and retrofitted with its ‘TONY AV’ kit, allowing them to drive autonomously.

With this pilot, Volvo hopes to earn “regulatory and public trust and acceptance of autonomous technologies”.

New plants are expected to enhance Bosch’s components position in the country’s rapidly expanding new energy vehicle (NEV) supply chain.

The ultimate purpose of the project is to help address Japan’s increasing shortage of long-distance truck drivers.

Einride has partnered with American multinational drinks company PepsiCo, to provide a fleet of five digitally optimised electric heavy-duty trucks in Memphis, Tennessee.

The two companies plan to integrate Rocsys’ ‘ROC-1’ hands-free charger with Aidrivers’ autonomous digital infrastructure which allows terminal tractors to drive themselves safely in the port.

The company willl use the newly-raised capital to commercialise its technology, starting next year in distribution centres.