British shopper loads could lighten in race to roll out driverless vehicles
BRITISH shoppers and businesses could save a fortune if haulage companies start using driverless technology, a new report has revealed.
The study found that the advent of automated, driverless vehicles in the courier and haulage sectors could deliver nearly £34bn in savings in a decade, significantly lightening the load for companies if those savings are passed on to consumers.
Research by AXA UK found that lower labour costs, insurance and efficient fuel consumption from using automated trucks could even save companies £47.5bn after a decade.
Driverless technology has seen investment from major manufacturers recently. On Saturday, Toyota announced plans to invest $50m (£32.3m) with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to gain an edge in the race to phase out human drivers.
THE ROAD TO DRIVERLESS CARS
• Google started building 100 automated cars in January with plans to test them early next year, while in May US motor manufacturer Daimler was first to be granted a licence to test driverless trucks.
• Uber recently announced a collaboration with the University of Arizona to produce an automated mapping system for its own taxis.