With many vehicle manufacturers and tech companies now testing driver-less vehicles on the roads, it’s inevitable that as the technology progresses, the logistics industry will see a change. But will the change be for the good or the bad?

It is true that from a financial standpoint, logistics businesses could benefit from replacing their drivers with robots, in the same way we have seen in many manufacturing industries. But this clearly isn’t good for the drivers worried about their profession becoming redundant. The good news for drivers is, at this time the law doesn’t allow any vehicle to drive itself without a human there to take over if something goes wrong, and the “drivers” of these self driving vehicles may even see the changes benefiting them.

Safety

A recent stat showed that human error causes up to 90% of road accidents in the UK. In Google’s 3 years of testing self driving vehicles on the streets of California, less than 10 incidents have been reported, all of them minor, and all of them caused by a human driver in another vehicle.

If autonomous vehicles were introduced on a large scale, we would likely see a huge decrease in not only the number of road accidents, but also the severity of any accidents that did happen. This is because even in semi-autonomous vehicles, the sensors available to the vehicle allow it to respond faster and make better decisions about the nature of the evasive action that should be taken.

Efficiency

Driverless vehicles not only have the potential to be safer, but also more efficient. They are programmed to perform braking and acceleration in the most efficient way, minimising fuel usage. Inbuilt navigation systems would also be able to programme the best route available to a destination, with live updates to avoid any heavily congested areas. Vehicle-to-vehicle (v2v) communication systems allow driverless vehicles to also communicate with each other, allowing them to navigate smoothly through traffic, eliminating the stop-start effect we see now on congested roads.

Liability

If all our vehicles are eventually going to be driven by robots, then who is to blame if an accident does happen? Do you blame the manufacturer, the owner, or the vehicle’s human occupant? As it stands now, any vehicle on the road has to have a human operator, so even if they weren’t directly controlling the vehicle at the time of an accident, they would be the one with liability. However, the insurance costs of running an autonomous vehicle would likely be greatly reduced, in response to the much decreased chances of having an accident.

At Bridge Fleet Solutions, we are committed to making the UK roads a safer place while saving you money. If you are interested in learning more about our fleet tracking and management solutions, don’t hesitate to get in touch on 0208 402 2350 or email info@bridgefleetsolutions.co.uk

How is Driverless Technology Going to Affect the Logistics Industry?