SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Ministry of Transport and terminal operator PSA Corporation are planning to develop a driverless container truck system that will boost port productivity by increasing the flow of boxes within the port and across the streets of the city-state.
The ministry and PSA today inked a memorandum of understanding to work together to design, develop and test-bed an “autonomous truck platooning system” for use on in the Port of Singapore and on public roads.
Autonomous truck platooning comprises one human-driven truck with one or more driverless trucks following behind, and it is intended to help alleviate the shortage of manpower in the trucking industry and raise productivity with more cargo transported per driver.
By shifting more haulage activities to off-peak hours, this can also help improve traffic flow during peak periods, helping the trucking industry meet the increased demand for container haulage between different port terminals and ultimately, other truck movements island-wide.
This is the second innovative approach to transporting containers being taken by Singapore as it builds a mega port that by the end of 2017 will have a throughput capacity of 50 million 20-foot containers, 15 million TEUs more than the port handled last year.
In June, JTC Corp., which is in the initial stages of constructing the mega port in the Tuas area of Singapore, said it was studying the feasibility of a container subway that would take containers through underground tunnels without relying on trucks and disperse the boxes throughout the city-state’s industrial areas.
The MOT and PSA said requests for proposals would be issued by December to design and carry out autonomous truck platooning system trials over a three-year period. Two proposers will be shortlisted to demonstrate their technology during the first stage, before one of the two is selected to operate on the designated route in Singapore.
Permanent Secretary for Transport Pang Kin Keong, who is chairman of the Committee for Autonomous Road Transport in Singapore, recognised the need to improve container flows.
“As Singapore’s maritime sector continues to grow and container volumes increase, the need for efficient inter-terminal and inter-port haulage has never been greater,” he said in a statement.
“Autonomous truck platooning technology can enable us to make a quantum leap in productivity in the port sector, while addressing the shortage of drivers in the trucking industry and adding value to their jobs.”
Once a proposal has been accepted, trials will initially involve inter-terminal haulage between Brani Terminal and Pasir Panjang Terminals, and a 6.2-mile test route along West Coast Highway has been identified for this purpose. The technology may eventually be scaled up for haulage within the port area, as well as between Pasir Panjang Terminals and the new Tuas Port.
Ong Kim Pong, regional CEO Southeast Asia for PSA International, said the project was important as the world’s second largest port operator expanded its terminals in Singapore.
“As we continue the development of our terminals at Pasir Panjang and plan for future terminals at Tuas, autonomous truck platooning will enable PSA to serve our customers better through increased port and inter-terminal productivity,” he said.
