Debut of the world’s first fully autonomous truck yard in Texas
- A fully autonomous truck yard has been opened in Texas, US
- It’s set to boost safety efficiency and capacity
- It’s a world-first
Published on May 14, 2024 at 5:56 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on May 14, 2024 at 5:56 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
A fully autonomous truck yard has been opened in Texas, US – and as well as being a world first, it’s also set to boost safety, efficiency, and capacity.
It combines the power of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision.
It could fully transform the world of transportation logistics.
READ MORE! Best electric car to buy in 2024
The pioneering system works to optimize the movements of trailers and containers in the yard, which simultaneously slashes costs, and enhances safety.
It also offers staffing predictability amid ongoing labor shortages.
The American Trucking Association projecting a shortage of 160 thousand truck drivers by the decade’s end.
This puts a strain on both the supply chain and the economy.
Facility managers can alleviate concerns regarding daily driver shifts, bolstering operational efficiency and augmenting driving capacity.
Technology company, ISEE, is behind the fully autonomous system that’s located on the customer site of a Fortune 100 company.
So far it’s proving to be a seamless integration of cutting-edge technology into real-world industry.
The move is a testament to the industry’s commitment to innovation.
It’s hoped that the advancement is also a step towards future advancements in the field.
“This campus is the first facility to commercially deploy a fleet of fully autonomous yard trucks,” Yibiao Zhao, CEO and co-founder of ISEE said alongside his co-founder, Debbie Yu.
“It validates that ISEE is leading the industry in autonomous yard truck technology.
“Recognizing revenue from a Fortune 100 customer for their full-facility deployment is only the beginning. We have a strong pipeline that we are excited to share when the moment is right.”
According to statistics from the US National Safety Council (NSC), transportation and warehousing have the highest worker injury rate.
And it’s equipment-related incidents that are the major culprit behind these incidents.
Turns out it’s not only Tesla’s self-driving feature that can save lives.
The deployment mitigates these transportation and warehousing issues by eradicating human error.
So, how does it work?
ISEE has developed cutting-edge sensor technologies and advanced algorithms.
Despite the system being fully autonomous, this ensures precise and cautious truck movement.
Merging seamlessly with existing yard management systems, warehouse management systems, and facility operations, the autonomous truck system yard will require no infrastructure tweaks.
Facility operators continue to utilize their systems, as ISEE’s tech dispatches autonomous yard trucks to fulfill requests.
It’s hoped this will make material movements even smoother.
However, these autonomous systems aren’t robots that will be stealing jobs from the workforce, as has previously been the worry around using autonomous tech in various industries.
For example, Amazon has expanded its warehouse robot fleet by over 100% in three years.
Instead, it’s hoped the deployment of the autonomous truck yard presents novel opportunities – both for training and upskilling transportation workers.
Opportunities lie in managing and maintaining this new system amid a shifting transportation landscape.
And, with a symbiotic relationship between technology and the human workforce in mind, the fully autonomous system can plug the gaps.
This includes operating at any time, in any weather.
This would allow autonomous truck yards to meet the demands of modern supply chains, allowing for further growth.
While autonomous systems are driving forward, lots of people saw a problem with this robot car park.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
