The US state of Nevada has given German truck manufacturer Daimler license to use a self-driving lorry for commercial use on the road.
Released under the Freightliner brand, the vehicle underwent 10,000 miles of testing before being allowed to venture into real road conditions.
Daimler executive Wolfgang Bernhard stressed to Sky News ‘this is not a testing licence, this is a full operating licence’.
‘We believe that these vehicles and systems are ready,’ he said, adding ‘we think we are making an important first step in the right direction, you need to have dreams’.
The vehicles could have an impact on freight transport within a relatively short space of time as they are capable of handling long-haul motorway driving; the main cause of driver fatigue.
Mr Bernhard suggested around 90% of road accidents are due to human error, often linked to such fatigue, which could be greatly reduced by autonomous trucks.
However a driver is still needed on the truck to take over when operations get too complicated for the on-board computer, such as navigating distribution centres and driving through busy urban streets.
The American state was chosen for the trials after European counterparts had been slow to approve regulations for similar vehicles, Daimler said.
