Port to double its fleet of self-driving trucks

The new autonomous vehicles will be used alongside the port's existing fleets of self-driving vehicles and conventional trucks

A new fleet of self-driving trucks will soon pull into a port in Suffolk and will double the number of automated vehicles operating there.

The Port of Felixstowe, owned by Hutchison Ports, has bought 34 autonomous trucks from Shanghai Westwell Technology Company.

They will join the port's existing fleet – also made up of 34 vehicles – which was deployed earlier this year at the site's Trinity Terminal.

The vehicles, which use cameras with 360-degree vision, and monocular and stereo cameras with radar, will be used alongside conventional trucks which require drivers.

Clemence Cheng, executive director of Hutchison Ports, said: "We are proud to be leading the way in autonomous operations in ports.

"Doubling our fleet will deliver even greater efficiency and resilience to our operation and significantly support our ambition to achieve net-zero by 2035."

The Port of Felixstowe will soon have 68 self-driving trucks in operation

The use of the battery-powered trucks has been made possible following the introduction of a private 5G network at the port, to which they connect.

The installation of an automated battery swap station also allows their power units to be changed with fully charged ones within minutes, without manual intervention.

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"Having the port fully automated shows how far we've come in terms of empowering ports' smart operation," said Kenny Tan, founder and chairman of Westwell.

"None of this would have been possible without the strong partnership between the Port of Felixstowe and Westwell, which has been key to making such a pioneering project successful.

"Collaboratively, we are shaping the future of smart port operations."