Automotive World’s special report on the automation of commercial vehicles explores the opportunities and challenges of introducing autonomous drive technology to commercial freight and transportation.

The seemingly inevitable shift to autonomous vehicles is moving at different speeds in the different transportation sectors, with many forecasting earlier commercialisation of automation in trucks and buses than in light duty and privately-owned passenger vehicles.

From improved safety to improved efficiency, truck makers and suppliers see an opportunity to help fleets improve their bottom line with autonomous drive technology. A number of issues stand in the way of developing, testing and rolling out autonomous vehicles, however, not least of which are summed up as cost, legal and societal acceptance.

Nevertheless, autonomous trucking is coming, and all truck industry stakeholders know that whatever near-term challenges they may face, they need to overcome them if they wish to stay in the game in the long-term.

In this report:

• Executive summary
• Legacy truck players: ignore autonomous trucking at your peril
• State of play: a round-up of autonomous commercial vehicle trials
• Volvo Trucks prepares for automation with multiple TaaS applications
• Demise of Starsky Robotics a ‘setback for the industry’
• How are commercial vehicle suppliers preparing for autonomous driving?
• Autonomous drive technology essential for today’s truck fleet operators
• Tech industry partnerships could make or break autonomous truck development

‘Special report: How is the commercial vehicle industry preparing for autonomous driving?’ opens with an article commissioned exclusively for Automotive World by Wilfried Aulbur and Oliver Dixon of Roland Berger, and presents insight from a range of leading stakeholders, including:

• ABI Research
• Lux Research
• McKinsey
• Nexteer
• NXP
• Starsky Robotics
• TuSimple
• Udelv
• UPS
• USPS
• Volvo Trucks
• Waymo
• ZF

…