Hamburg’s port authority, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) in collaboration with MAN Truck & Bus wrapped up a pioneering three-year trial of automated drayage.
In fact, MAN Truck & Bus and Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG successfully completed the “Hamburg TruckPilot” project in summer 2021.
“Pilot projects like Hamburg TruckPilot prove that the use of self-driving trucks is technologically feasible and can be efficiently integrated into logistics processes. Autonomous driving will be a game changer in transportation. In close cooperation with customers and partners, we are testing practical automation solutions with the aim of getting self-driving trucks ready for series production from 2030″, says Dr. Frederik Zohm, MAN Board Member for Research and Development.
The objective of the three-year project, which was also part of the strategic mobility partnership between the City of Hamburg and Volkswagen AG, included the development and practical testing of an autonomous truck in container handling at the HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA).
During the practical trips, the logistics partner, Spedition Jakob Weets e.K. from Emden, first transported 40-foot containers controlled by a driver on behalf of Volkswagen Group Logistics to the CTA terminal in the Port of Hamburg.
There, the truck drove autonomously across the terminal area and moved smoothly in mixed traffic with other road users. It drove to its destination in the block storage lane and also manoeuvred itself backwards with high precision into the parking position.
After container handling, the return journey to the check gate was just as autonomous, and beyond the terminal grounds, the driver of the Jakob Weets e.K. haulage company once again took full command.
With its highly automated processes, HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder is the ideal test environment for trying out promising technologies. Our facilities operate 24/7 around the clock, 360 days a year. However, the safe integration of autonomous trucks into the terminal processes is a major challenge, because autonomous and classic transports are intermingled. With Hamburg TruckPilot, we were able to show that this application is possible and promising in practice.
…Till Schlumberger, project manager at HHLA responsible for Hamburg TruckPilot said.
