The freight industry in Japan faces serious challenges of a driver shortage and an aging population. Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reported that currently, 45.2% of the drivers in the country’s transportation industry are aged 50 or older. In addition, new regulations are to be introduced, reducing the number of consecutive hours the drivers are allowed to work. Thereby, the amount of cargo that can be transported is expected to decrease.

To this end, the Japanese government is planning to launch a self-driving lane on some sections of the New Tomei Expressway that will allow commercial operation of fully autonomous trucks. TuSimple, which is developing an autonomous driving solution for long-haul heavy-duty trucks, has announced that they have begun Level 4 autonomous test runs on Japan’s most critical freight corridor, connecting the major cities of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka.

Further, TuSimple has completed a fully autonomous semitruck run on open public roads in China without a human in the vehicle and without human intervention. The test run was conducted on designated public roads approved by the Shanghai government, including Yangshan Deep-water Port Logistics Park and Donghai Bridge. Over the course of approximately 62 km, TuSimple China’s autonomous truck navigated through traffic signals, on-ramps, off-ramps, lane changes, emergency lane vehicles, partial lane closures, fog, and crosswinds.

Full Article: IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, Volume 18, Number 4, December 2023

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