SKF is now testing a self-driving electric truck with Einride, to transport goods on a public road between its factory and warehouse in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Einride was the first company in the world to drive electric, self-driving trucks on public roads for commercial purposes in 2018.

“We have decided to reduce our CO² impact by 40 per cent from freight transport over a ten-year period until 2025,” said Mattias Axelsson, Global Logistics Manager, SKF. “We therefore review 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.”

For SKF, self-driving trucks (automated guided vehicles) are used, inside factories and warehouses. There are plans to develop a solution for autonomous loading and unloading of the autonomous truck, which can carry up to 10 tonnes at a time. However, driving driverless vehicles on public roads requires a special permit from the Swedish Transport Agency, which the two companies plan to apply for together.