OEM bearing and seal manufacturer SKF has begun testing a self-driving electric truck in conjunction with Swedish developer Einride, to transport goods on a public road between SKF’s factory and warehouse in Gothenburg.
“We have decided to reduce our CO2 impact from freight transport by 40% over a 10-year period until 2025. We therefore reviewed our entire logistics flow from a CO2 perspective. This is an example of initiatives that give us new opportunities to create efficient, sustainable and autonomous logistics flows that contribute to our goals,” explained Mattias Axelsson global logistics manager at SKF. In 2018, Einride became the first company in the world to drive electric, self-driving trucks on public roads for commercial purposes.
Using autonomous vehicles is not a new experience for SKF: the firm already deploys many automated guided vehicles (AGV) in its factories and warehouses. It also has plans to develop a solution for autonomous loading and unloading of the autonomous truck, which can carry up to 10 tonnes at a time.
“With the partnership with SKF, we now have customers in all our priority customer segments – trade, consumer goods and industrial goods – which we are very proud of. Together with them, we will learn and grow quickly,” concluded Jonas Hernlund, commercial manager at Einride.