Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Rationale for Choosing the Road Freight Automated Transport System ..................................................... 2
Barriers of the Automated Transportation Freight Systems in the UK ......................................................... 4
Enablers of the Automated Transportation Freight Systems in the UK ....................................................... 6
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 9
Reference List.............................................................................................................................................. 10

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Introduction
An effective system of freight transport is necessary to the economy and make sure a high quality
of automated life is put into effect. The intelligent systems of transportation intend to enhance the
usage of the existing system of transportation, safety, capacity from the current physical
infrastructure, and security, while simultaneously decreasing the negative impacts on the
environment related to the freight transportations on road. With the initiation of the automated
road transportation system taking place from 1960 in the UK, which was driven by the mechanism
of production, with the intention of the optimisation of the flowing of materials and the reduction
with respect to the requirements of the labour. The initial implementations regarding such
automation were carried out with respect to the contexts of warehousing and production. However,
till date, the automated road freight transportation systems are not openly utilised in public spaces
due to the fact that they need a dedicated and particular infrastructure, coupled with working
policies and regulations.

Earlier researches have identified the presence of a gap with respect to the research related to the
identification of competitive advantages, with the aspect of autonomous driving becoming feasible
in the market. In the terms of technology that is used, there has been significant effort with respect
to the investigation of newer technologies for the systems of transportation, and notable progress
has been observed in recent years. However, there has also been limited evaluation into the
macroeconomic and microeconomic costs and benefits with respect to these developments, and
more research would be necessary.

This study is being carried out in order to understand the potential for the latest forms of freight
transportation on road, which intends to integrate or replace the current freight road transportation
systems in the UK. This study will also be highlighting the reason behind the choice of the mode
of the transportation system (road) and the barriers and enablers affecting this newly formed
automated system.

Rationale for Choosing the Road Freight Automated Transport System

Compared to the other transport modes of freight such as rail and aviation, automation for the
transportation via road has been less incorporated in studies till date, primarily due to the level of
development of technology for the environments for roads, which are much more complicated than
the segregated involvement of the air and railway systems (Paddeu and Parkhurst 2020). With the

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continuous development of the road automation technology, it would be more important to make
sure that the complicated legal and regulatory regime keeps up with the evolving challenges and
questions that this technology poses for goods, users, and society (Gattuso and Cassone 2018).

Nonetheless, the technology of Automated Vehicles has potential significant influences in terms
of the improvements of safety, the reduction of fuel consumption and consequent reduction of
costs, as well as improved flexibility and efficiency, for instance, due to the minimised impact of
the absence of a driver from work. According to earlier researchers, the adoption and acceptance
of AV trucks is more likely to take place than AV cars, despite the massive commercial prices
(Paddeu and Parkhurst 2020). As per these researchers, there is a lack of studies that have been
carried on automated road freight system, and only a handful of published articles have remotely
evaluated the advantages and barriers pertaining to this kind of system.

The technologies fuelled by automation and their potential for transforming the business of the
road freight transportation system and was recently explored in a joint session organised by Volvo
and IRU at the European Conference on Automated and Connected Driving (EUCAD), which was
carried out in 2019 and was regarded as the flagship event with respect to automation in the
European Union (EU). This session also brought together truck manufacturers, port authorities,
research institutes, and the representation from the Government of the UK, along with the potential
influence on the labour force and the environment (Müller 2020). The IRU also welcomed the
emphasis on the opportunity of the professional truck-drivers as a central point of discussion at the
event. As has been observed in a recently published study carried out by the IRU, the sector is
currently dealing with one of the most acute shortage in professional drivers for decades. Although,
automation would not be solving the problem, but it possesses the potential for fundamentally
altering the nature of the profession of driving freight transport on roads, making it more appealing
for the younger drivers specifically by opening up possibilities that need a set of new skills (Jaller,
Otero-Palencia and Pahwa 2020).

Another major reason behind the adoption of this mode of freight transportation into the study,
IRU highlighting the willingness of the road transportation sector in the UK to embrace and
implement innovation in the form of automation, as long as it offers for the secure, safe, and
sustainable operations of the automated vehicular technology (Hopkins and Schwanen 2021).
Furthermore, the IRU also vouched for such involvement of automation in various initiatives, such

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as the EU-sponsored ARCADE project, and the IRU has been striving to make sure that this sector
holds on to and implements the opportunities that automation carries in the context of efficiency,
safety, and its influence on the environment.

Barriers of the Automated Transportation Freight Systems in the UK

With the absence of necessary infrastructure, consisting of ICTs along with the complementary
roadside systems needing to enable functions specific to AVs such as signs, signals, and sponsors
would be holding back innovation (in this case, automation) in the sector of freight, as it would
lack the usage of a suitable framework regarding the implementation of automation technology
(Csiszár and Földes 2018). As a result, it has inferred the lack of a suitable framework for
regulation of the incorporation of automated technology in the realm of freight transportation
system in the UK, which involves constraining of a large-scale incorporation of automated trucks,
instead of focusing on the technical aspects driving the technology.

With respect to the earlier phases of the development of technology, there lies the possibility of
implementing limited added value as it can be associated with the launching of latest technologies,
provided the high costs with respect to capital (Vida, Illés and Tóth 2020). As a result, it is crucial
for the early adopters to be incentivised, such as via fiscal support for indulging with such risks.
The distribution scheme pertaining towards the saving of costs is also necessary to be considered
explicitly. For instance, with respect to the case of platooning, it is indeed the case where the
“following” vehicles would be saving fuel and the leading vehicles experience no benefits in this
regard (Bucsky 2018). However, there might be additional operational liabilities or costs,
specifically if the lead vehicles are being driven by humans. In such situations, it might be
important for the introduction of a mechanism of price for making sure that there is a uniform
distribution of benefits across all the involved parties in the platoon (Jeong et al. 2020).

Connected to the necessity for compelling proof regarding the reliability and benefits provided by
the latest technology, normative perceptions and collective beliefs regarding suitable models of
function organised within institutions, and could pose as a disruption regarding innovation. For
instance, with respect to the implementation of platooning in the haulage of roads, evidence from
the project, COMPANION states that negative viewpoints amongst drivers could result in the
formation of a barrier regarding the adoption of automation by major organisations in the country
(Conca et al. 2018). Drivers were observed to perceive that platooning can be considered to be

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unpleasant, not to mention, uncomfortable. It is because platooning restricts drivers’ “freedom”,
and manual driving is regarded to be safer and better than automated technology (Hanna, Yulia
and Svitlana 2018). Alongside this, drivers might also be worried regarding employment in the
future, as in a totally automated freight would result in the radical alteration of their jobs or their
importance would dissipate significantly.

Opposition from drivers might turn out to be a major barrier with respect to the implementation of
automated system, with their presence being deemed necessary in the period of transition from the
1st level to the 5th level of automation. The same issue can also be affecting warehouse employees
where the long-term vision involves the full automation of these warehouses in the near future. As
a result, it is expected that there will be a notable enhancement in the logistics performance of the
warehouses, which would include the errors and costs, reduction in time, and the improvement in
the aspect of safety (Lebedeva, Kripak and Gozbenko 2018). However, it would reduce the number
of humans working in the sector of freight significantly in the UK, and as a result, these people
might demonstrate signs of opposition to the adoption of new automated technologies because of
the considerable impact that they have in the realm of employment.

Moreover, it should also be understood that new skills are harder to acquire and the transferring of
these skills to the entire workforce would take significant time, while the ongoing force of labour
might resist in changes. Moreover, it would also result in the implementation of a national policy
for managing the outcomes of the incorporation of automation across the UK, which might turn
out to be a top-down approach to reassure workers that they can be benefitted with the
implementation of automation (Ambra, Caris and Macharis 2019).

Clearly, the conviction of evidence that the technology of automation is safe, and indeed, it is safer
than the manual function, which is needed to overcome the early misperceptions that concerned
risks. The high-profile, and if low-probability issues of safety arise during the trials of Automated
Vehicles (AVs) with the occurrence of the death of one driver who was in-charge of long-lasting
influences regarding the potential of adoption (Jović et al. 2020). A comparative absence regarding
the scaling of economies with respect to updated technologies also puts the AV technology in a
situation of adversity regarding the existing mediums of operation. Nevertheless, even if the
scaling of economies that rely on the newer elements of network might be considerably harder to
acquire, particularly in the short to medium term because of the high investment costs related to

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infrastructure, desiring efficiencies might still be accomplished by the improvement of the
practices with respect to operations, for instance, can be the optimisation of routes taken via the
network. As a result, it is crucial for implementing mutually-advantageous mechanisms that would
enable logistical organisations for collaborating and sharing the most optimal practice. Freight
logistic companies having minimal power of purchase would be requiring support, which could
either be monetary or in the form of training with updated technology for enabling them to change
their practices related to operation.

Enablers of the Automated Transportation Freight Systems in the UK

The feasibility of the cutting-edge data and the technologies of communication (ICTs) involves a
clear necessity of the successful adoption of the latest technologies of automation in the sector of
freight. Particularly speaking, the provision of the nationwide high-speed mobile and broadband
networks would be fundamental to support every aspect of the UK economy in the 21st century.
With particular focus to the road freight sector in the country, such high-capacity networks would
be fundamental to deal with every aspect of the economy in the UK in the century (Klumpp 2018).
With respect to the particular traits incorporating the sector of freight on-roads in the UK, the high-
capacity networks for transmitting data would unlock the potential for the following:

• The deployment and development of V2V, vehicle-to-cloud and vehicle-to-infrastructure

technologies of communication, as desired for the automation of the road-haulage vehicles
• Improved capacity regarding the transmission of data logistics between the providers of
freight, along with the customers that would help in the improvement of freight functions
(Engholm et al. 2020)

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 • The function of automated drones for the last-mile deliveries.

Figure 1: The Costs Incurred Every Ton-Mile by Modes of Freight Transport in the UK

(Source: Pernestål et al. 2021)

Currently, the providers of logistics in the UK utilise a combination of various data-structures. The
standardised protocols for the transmission of data, coupled with the structures would be vital for
maximising the potential of sharing of information across the sector of freight. The ICTs also might
enable the managers of supply-chain, which in this case are the logistics operators, shippers, end-
consumers and retailers for enhancing their respective performance of activities by virtue of more
effective flow of information (Chinoracky and Čorejová 2019). Such a development would result
in the provision of a higher quality of the services carried out across the chain of supply. Emerging
solutions like the platforms of e-market or block-chain 28 or the platform of the port community
system would turn out to be major determinants pertaining to the introduction of information with
respect to different logistics industries, thereby enhancing the appeal of automation to the potential
investors due to the higher immersion of these automated systems to the chain of supply (Gyergyay
et al. 2019). Organisations that offer the services of ICT would be gaining an important role with

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respect to this case, which involves being involved with the provision and designing of updated
systems in order to enhance the competitive aspect of the supply-chain.

Figure 2: Savings Made by the Usage of Electric Vehicles and Autonomous Freight
Vehicles

(Source: Pisa 2021)

Reliable and compelling evidence related to the effectiveness of the supply-chain also
demonstrates a reduction of turnover costs and efficiency gains in order to incentivise stakeholders
operating in the private-sector such as the managers of supply-chain, logistics operators, and
automotive sector for investing in the latest automated freight technologies. A recent analysis has
shown that the usage of autonomous electric trucks is expected to minimise the costs related to

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freight trucking from $0.12 every ton-mile to $0.03 every ton-mile during the following 5-10 years,
which is a functional reduction of costs by 75%. Such significant savings related to the functional
costs would be offsetting the higher costs of capital related to the purchase of automated
technologies.

The drastic reduction in the costs of operation is more than 50% of the operating cost of a truck
driven by personnel, which nearly resulted in the saving of almost $1 million every year for the
handy-sized bulkers, and approximately $1.5 million for the handy-sized product tankers. Another
major benefit that would enable the implementation of automation would witness the improvement
of revenue. In addition to this, another major advantage involves the reduction of expenses because
of piracy; autonomous freight trucks would be difficult to manage, and the lack of trained drivers
could result in increased theft and robbery. As a result, these transportation systems have been
equipped with remote control, which makes it relatively easier for security personnel to address
such an adverse situation.

Conclusion
To conclude, this study has been carried out to comprehend the utilisation of automation for the
freight system on-road as there has been minimal studies regarding the topic because of the
developmental level with respect to the environments for the roads, which is quite complicated
than the separate indulgence with the railways and air systems. With respect to the attributes of
barriers and enablers, this study has shown that one of the major issues related to the former would
be the reduction in the employment sector due to the overall automation of the system. Moreover,
the handling of such updated technology in the hands of inexperienced employees can also turn
out to be disastrous. However, with the potential of the usage of the ICT sector and technologies
with the automation of the freight vehicles, it would help the logistics organisation experience
significantly higher Return on Investment (RoI) with the adoption of such technology.

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