In addition to having a great impact on the environment, transport is the most costly logistics activity for organizations, corresponding to approximately 54% of the logistics costs of Brazilian companies, according to a study released by ILOS in 2016. To increase truck productivity, reduce costs and reduce the social and environmental impact of road transport, several technologies are being developed and every day we see new milestones happening in the media.
A little less than 2 months ago, the first delivery of products by an autonomous truck took place. The fact occurred in the United States, when an Otto truck, a startup founded with the aim of developing this type of vehicle and which was bought by Uber in the middle of the year, traveled about 200 km in the state of Colorado transporting 50.000 cans of Budweiser beer .
In this blog, we have already commented on the development of autonomous ships and use of autonomous trucks by mining companies, illustrating some of the numerous initiatives being developed. The use of driverless cars is one of the main logistical trends for the coming years. The objective is to increase transport productivity, since the trucks could run 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, with no need for stops for the driver to rest or expenses with overtime. Reducing the number of accidents on the roads is also a goal pursued with the use of this type of truck.
In addition to autonomous vehicles, trucks powered by electricity are another technology in vogue at the moment, spurred by social pressure to reduce pollution caused by burning fossil fuels. There are already cases of vehicles equipped with this technology traveling on the roads, but this is still far from being common. The main obstacle to the mass adoption of this technology is the high cost, the high recharge time and the durability and low autonomy of the batteries.
This week, however, interesting news was published by the American newspaper Wall Street Journal. Also in the state of Colorado, authorities signaled the construction of a public road capable of recharging electric trucks while driving. Coils buried underground would send energy to receiver coils installed on trucks, which would allow longer trips to be made by this type of vehicle. The Colorado Department of Transportation is currently looking for the ideal location to develop the pilot project by the end of 2017 and begin testing in late 2018.
If in the United States projects in this sense are still on paper, in Europe tests have already been carried out since June, when the first electric road in the world was inaugurated in Sweden. Driven by the country's goal of making its entire transport fleet free of fossil fuels by 2030, the project, known as eHighway, was developed by Siemens and opened on a two-kilometer stretch of the E16 motorway, north of Stockholm. A mechanism called “intelligent pantograph”, installed on top of the cab of hybrid trucks, is activated automatically when the vehicle enters the stretch of road, connecting to the electricity lines installed on the track. When the truck needs to change lanes to pass another vehicle, however, it can disconnect from the network and switch back to using diesel. For two years, the stretch of electric highway will serve as a test platform in search of technology enhancements and improvements.
Video 1 – Siemens eHighway
Source: FuturePorts
Initiatives like these point to a more efficient and sustainable transport activity in the future. For this to become a reality, however, more studies and motivation on the part of countries are still needed. While autonomous vehicles have yet to overcome the controversy of the consequent increase in unemployment among truck drivers, electric trucks still face the barrier of high acquisition costs.
References
<https://www.wired.com/2016/10/ubers-self-driving-truck-makes-first-delivery-50000-beers/>
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/electric-trucking-charges-up-1481212800>
<http://www.bbc.com/portuguese/geral-36660436>
<http://inergiae.com.br/site/vantagens-e-desvantagens-do-veiculo-eletrico/>
Fernanda Monteiro
More than 11 years of experience in training and consultancy projects, focusing on Logistics and Supply Chain. In consultancy, he carried out projects such as Transformational Logistics Plan, Diagnosis of logistics operations, Strategy and Calendarization of Transport Operations, Measuring the Cost of Serving, Market Study, Mapping of Inventory Reduction Opportunities, Review of the S&OP Process, Management Plan Training and Implementation of Commercial Processes in companies such as Nestlé, Raia Drogasil, Ipiranga, Lojas Americanas, B2W, Coca-Cola, Andina, Embraco, Martins Atacado, Loja do Mecânico, Santo Antônio Energia, Ecoporto and Silimed. She is currently one of the teachers of the Inventory Management Course taught every six months by ILOS. She worked on the development and management of Online Courses in Logistics and Supply Chain, Supply Processes, Demand Planning, Inventory Management and Industrial Management. Still in the training area, she was responsible for applying ILOS business games in companies such as Raia Drogasil, Fibria, NEC, Novartis and Moove.
