The Netherlands wants to have self-driving trucks within five years

Google has their self-driving car project, while BMW too, has experimented with their own version, with Volvo looking at a “Drive Me” self-driving car program. Now, the Dutch do seem to want to jump on board with the idea of self-driving trucks, where initial tests will be carried out on a closed track before it is followed up on public roads prior to arriving at a decision to make it mainstream. Driving a truck is not easy, especially if you have to spend long hours behind the wheel each day, so to have a self-driving truck might see some people lose their jobs, but at least it might make our roads safer – assuming the algorithm and program works as smooth as clockwork, that is.

Self-driving trucks could begin delivering goods from Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port, to other Dutch cities within five years under a plan by a group of logistics and technology companies unveiled on Monday. The Netherlands is reviewing traffic laws to make large-scale testing of the technology possible on public roads, Infrastructure and Environment Minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen wrote to parliament in a letter outlining the plan. Initial testing would start on computer simulations and the trucks will be tested on a closed track before ultimately driving out on public roads, her letter said. The goal is to make the technology commercially available within five years, according to one participant. The Dutch proposal comes a month after Google Inc. said it was developing two-passenger, self-driving cars and hopes to have built 200 of the vehicles with two years. The Netherlands, a densely populated country, has a highly advanced infrastructure and is home to Europe’s fourth largest airport, while Rotterdam port is a major European logistics hub. “We really want to seek out international partners to see what we can do in this field,” said Marianne Wuite, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment.