SUSTAINABILITY
“Driverless trucks could be a solution to the ongoing drivers shortage ”
NIKLAS ANDERSSON , EXECUTIVE VP & HEAD OF LOGISTICS DIVISION , DFDS
Market choice will increase with maturity As the e-truck market continues to mature , there will also be more choice around driven e-trucks and driverless ones .
DFDS is hoping to use a mix of the two , and says it has a number of projects involving autonomous vehicles “ on the horizon ”, and will deploy them “ if they can work for our business ”.
Driverless trucks could ultimately be a solution to the ongoing drivers shortage , which is affecting DFDS , as it is for all logistics companies .
“ We remain impacted by the ongoing shortage of qualified HGV drivers , and ongoing government intervention is required to address this ,” says Andersson . “ Self-driving trucks could be part of the solution but it is still early days , so we need to take some time to accurately assess if they can work for our business .”
Asked why he thought the sale of e-trucks has been so slow , Andersson says as well as being a problem of availability and cost , battery size is also an issue .
“ The size of batteries required to give sufficient power and range is an obstacle when it comes to electrifying one ’ s fleet ,” he says . supplychaindigital . com 87