Volvo Trucks prepares for automation with multiple TaaS applications

The introduction by Volvo Trucks of Vera—a multifaceted autonomous truck concept featuring a driverless cab, a connectivity solution and use of control towers—marked something of a departure from the standard ambition for autonomous commercial vehicles. Whilst much of the industry speculated on self-driving highway trucks, capable of removing the driver from the longest part of the journey and slashing costs whilst addressing the driver shortage, the Swedish truckmaker wanted to focus on conditional applications for use in confined spaces. These do away with many of the challenges encountered on the highway, including unpredictable drivers, high speeds, breakdowns and collisions.