Public opinion on the idea of Autonomous Vehicles is mixed, as expected. However, this technological breakthrough has proven worthy due to its benefits to businesses, the public, and the environment.
There are four key benefits of autonomous delivery:
The top benefit of autonomous delivery is that it actually improves road safety. Some studies estimate that by implementing high levels of automation on the road, we are looking at a possibility of cutting down accidents by 80% by eliminating typical driver errors caused by negligence or recklessness. Which, according to Jean-Francois Gaillet, Chief Innovation Officer at Vias Institute, accounts for 90% of road accidents.
Forget about getting stuck in traffic because of a bunch of delivery vehicles during rush hours!
Autonomous mobility on roads, rail, and water will decongest the roads. Not only do these present more eco-friendly delivery options for consumers, but AVs can also make deliveries at night because of its noise-free electric motor.
Replacing traditional road transportation with electric AVs cuts down significantly on carbon emissions. Compared to human drivers, AV software can minimise energy consumption, contributing to a significant decrease in air pollution and promoting environmental recovery.
Automation removes driving tasks from the overall workflow and opens up new opportunities, time, and manpower to higher value tasks and responsibilities. This tasks include innovation and remote fleet operations.
In response to these concerns, Ziegler is pioneering autonomous delivery in Europe to aid in building healthier roads for EU cities.
Ziegler, together with several organisations such as the Vias institute, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, BECI, the Ministry for Mobility, and the Department of Public Works and Traffic Safety of the Brussels-Capital Region will start closed-course testing to assess the efficiency of AVs in terms of production and ecological efficiency and prove its potential to the public.
With Ziegler piloting this project, the entire AV project is deemed more credible due to the family business’ genuine drive towards sustainability supported by vast experience in logistics in general.
As Stefan Vadenhende, Advisor and Minister or the Brussels Capital Region, says “the chances of success are then also a bit higher if you’re not just living on this hype, but if you’re actually really trying to do this from your core business, seeing how you can sustainably change your core business for the future.”
