Japan is planning an automated trucking system to reduce driver shortages and reduce pollution

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TOKYO (AP) – Japan plans to build an automated freight corridor between Tokyo and Osaka, dubbed a “conveyor belt road” by the government, to plug a shortage of truck drivers.

The amount of funding for this project has not yet been determined. But it is seen as a key way to help the country cope with rising demand.

A computer graphics video created by the government shows large, wheeled boxes traveling in a three-lane tunnel, also called a “freeway,” in the middle of a major highway. The trial system is due to begin testing in 2027 or early 2028, with a target for full operation in the mid-2030s.

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“We need to be innovative in the way we approach roads,” said Yuri Endo, senior deputy director in charge of the effort at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Besides helping the dwindling workforce and the need to reduce the workload of drivers, the program will also help reduce carbon emissions, he said.

“The key concept of the auto flow-road is to create dedicated spaces within the transport road network, using a 24-hour automated transport system,” said Endo.

The plan may sound like a solution that would only work in low-crime, populous societies like Japan, not overcrowded countries like the US. But similar ideas are being considered in Switzerland and Great Britain. The Swiss plan involves an underground line, while the one planned for London will be an automated system powered by low-cost linear motors.

In Japan, loading will be automated, using forklifts, and integrated with airports, railways and ports.

The boxes measure 180 centimeters high, or about six feet, and are 110 centimeters, or 3.6 feet, by 110 centimeters wide and tall, about the size of a large closet.

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The program, aimed at business delivery, can be extended to other routes if all goes well. Human drivers will still need to make last-mile deliveries to human departments, although driverless technology may be used in the future.

Japan’s truck driver shortage figures are getting worse due to laws that went into effect earlier this year limiting the number of overtime drivers can clock in. That seems necessary to avoid overwork and accidents and to make operations bearable, but in Japan’s transport circles, government and transportation, it is known as the “2024 crisis.”

Under current conditions, Japan’s total transportation capacity will decline by 34% by 2030, according to government estimates. Domestic transportation volume stands at about 4.3 billion metric tons, almost all, or more than 91%, by trucks, according to the Japan Trucking Association.

That’s a fraction of what moves in a country as large as the U.S. An estimated 5.2 trillion ton-miles of cargo is transported in the United States each year, and that’s expected to reach more than 8 billion tons by 2050. A mile measures the amount of goods shipped and how far they travel, with the standard unit of one ton being moved one mile.

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Demand for delivery and online shopping soared during the pandemic, with users jumping from about 40% of Japanese households to more than 60%, according to government data, even as the population continues to decline as the birth rate declines.

As is the case in many areas, truck drivers have demanding jobs that require them to be on the road for long days, a job that many job seekers find unattractive.

In recent years, the annual death toll from truck crashes on the roads has increased to nearly 1,000. That’s an improvement from nearly 2,000 deaths in 2010, but the Trucking Association, which includes about 400 trucking businesses and organizations in the nation, would like to make deliveries even safer.

The organization is also urging consumers to hold delivery orders or at least consolidate their orders. Some industry experts are urging businesses to limit free delivery offers.

Trucks carry about 90% of Japan’s goods, and about 60% of Japan’s fresh produce, such as fruits and vegetables, come from remote areas that need to be transported by truck, according to Yuji Yano, a professor at Ryutsu Keizai University, which is funded by ? for delivery Nippon Express Co., now called NX Holdings, and specializes in economics and liberal arts, including trucking issues.

“That means that the problem of 2024 is not just a problem of transportation but a problem of people,” said Yano.

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Yuri Kageyama is at X: https://x.com/yurikageyama

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