MAN: Autonomous on the highway - Minister on board

MAN has been testing driverless trucks on the highway for several days. On Thursday, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing also dared to board. On the A9 north of Munich, he rode in a computer-controlled semi-trailer truck from Allershausen for nearly ten kilometers to the Fürholzen-West rest area and showed enthusiasm.

"Our goal is to become the leading market for automated and connected driving," said the FDP politician. It could help manage the increasing freight volumes despite the growing driver shortage. With the autonomous driving law, which dates back to his predecessor Andreas Scheuer, Germany has "taken the leading position in Europe."

MAN developed the test vehicle together with suppliers Bosch, Knorr-Bremse, Leoni, TÜV Süd, and other partners and tested it on its own test track. Now, with a special permit from the Federal Motor Transport Authority, it is going onto the highway.

During this process, the truck is constantly monitored and, if necessary, controlled and braked remotely by employees in a control center, as MAN spokesperson Gregor Jentzsch emphasizes. Additionally, a safety driver is seated at the wheel who can intervene at any time.

Hoping for a multi-billion dollar business

Manufacturers and suppliers are hoping for a significant business with self-driving trucks. Daimler Trucks has been running pilot projects with customers using self-driving trucks on highways in the USA for a year already, aiming to bring them to market regularly in 2027 and to generate three billion dollars in revenue and one billion dollars in profit before interest and taxes by 2030, according to company spokesperson Paul Mandaiker.

Such concrete plans are not yet known from MAN. Steps "towards market readiness" are planned for the end of the decade, says MAN CEO Alexander Vlaskamp.

"In the end, it must be worthwhile for a hauler to acquire the technology," explains MAN spokesperson Jentzsch.

And lists a number of advantages: Autonomous trucks could reduce overall operating costs by 10 to 15 percent. They don't have to adhere to driving times and rest periods. They can theoretically drive around the clock. They don’t get tired or inattentive. The number of accidents is likely to decrease. There is a huge shortage of drivers in Europe and the USA. Instead of driving semi-trailers with containers back and forth on the highway between Hamburg and Munich in regular operation and regularly spending the night far from home in the driver's cabin, more drivers could work in regional transport in the future, load vehicles, and deliver goods.

Shipping industry has doubts

But customers are skeptical. Self-driving trucks - "that sounds good in theory," says Dirk Engelhardt, spokesman for the Federal Association of Freight Transport, Logistics, and Disposal (BGL). Basically, he also sees it positively - but with many question marks:

„How often do outages occur in the radio network? How does it work in heavy rain, fog, snow? At construction sites? When the lane markings are faded?“

Then there are the investments. Both manufacturers and shippers will have to invest a lot of money in the switch to e-mobility in the coming years, as required by law. That currently takes priority.

According to BGL, Germany alone already lacks 120,000 truck drivers today. Every year, 30,000 retire. Only 15,000 are added, says Engelhardt. But he doubts that autonomous trucks will help with this in the foreseeable future. They are unlikely to be properly on public roads before ten years at the earliest. But without a driver? The autopilot has not made the pilot in the airplane superfluous. Trains are still driven by train drivers. "Why autonomous driving should take hold in road traffic, which is much more complex, is beyond me," says the head of the association.

MAN has already tested autonomous trucks at the transshipment point in the port of Hamburg and when loading onto trains and reported efficiency gains of up to 40 percent. By the end of the year, prototypes are to be traveling between logistics points from Munich to Nuremberg, Ulm, and Landsberg am Lech. Practical projects with customers are planned afterward. The vehicles could become series-ready from 2030 at the earliest.