JD.com unveils self-driving truck in move to automate logistics operations

E-commerce giant JD.com unveiled its autonomous truck technology on Tuesday, joining a growing number of tech companies in China that are vying to replace humans behind the wheel with self-driving systems.

The highly-automated truck, developed at the company’s research centre in the US, has accumulated 17,000 hours of test driving on public highways, according to Xiao Jun, president of JD’s X-Business Division, which spearheads the development of unmanned logistics systems.

A video clip screened at an event in Beijing showed autonomous trucks, powered by JD’s technology, driving on American highways with no drivers behind the wheel.

The trucks still need to learn how to deal with traffic lights but can handle open road driving, Xiao said. “We have drivers [on board] for when the trucks enter downtown areas and they take the cargo to the logistics centres, which are usually 10 kilometres from the freeway.”

“There isn’t much value if our technology can only cut three drivers down to two or even one. We hope the truck is unmanned,” he said.

A global race to commercialise autonomous trucks is on, with Chinese companies competing with US tech giants like Uber Technologies, Google’s Waymo and Tesla’s Semi, which have collectively invested billions to ensure a stake in the future of transport technology. Autonomous driving is increasingly seen as an amalgamation of the latest technologies, including 5G, manufacturing and new energy.