May 29, 2019 Vol. 16 No. 11

Daimler Trucks is establishing the Autonomous Technology Group as a global organization, as of June 1, bringing together its worldwide expertise. The new business unit will build overall strategy for the company’s automated driving roadmap, including research and development as well as setting up the required operations. With an investment of more than $US570 million, the goal is series production of SAE level 4 automated trucks within a decade.

You can already buy a level 2 Freightliner Cascadia and level 3 trucks have been demonstrated, starting in 2014, in both Germany and the U.S. Level 4 goes one significant step further, meaning such vehicles are fully autonomous for an entire trip but can’t handle every possible scenario. The driver is still there but can go to sleep if he chooses. Level 5 is an entirely unmanned vehicle.

“Autonomous driving will revolutionize road freight transport and create major benefits for everyone involved,” said Wolfgang Bernhard, then Daimler trucks and buses chief, back in 2014 as he introduced 325 journalists, analysts, and government officials to the ‘Highway Pilot’ assistance system on Future Truck 2025 in Germany. He said he was determined to make it a production vehicle option — and have at least European society accept the autonomous idea — by 2025.

“We are the pioneer for automated trucks,” said Martin Daum, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Trucks and Buses. “With the formation of our global Autonomous Technology Group, we are taking the next step, underscoring the importance of highly automated driving for Daimler Trucks, the industry and society as well. With the new unit, we will maximize the effectiveness of our automated driving efforts and the impact of our investments in this key strategic technology. We will therefore be in the perfect position to put highly automated driving onto the roads, making transportation safer, saving lives and helping trucking companies boost their productivity.”

Peter Vaughan Schmidt, who is currently Head of Strategy at Daimler Trucks, will lead this new, global and cross-divisional organization. In this position, he will continue to report directly to Martin Daum. Schmidt has 15 years of experience in the industry and in his previous position he has been responsible for the development of Daimler Trucks’ strategy on automated vehicles.

“With the Autonomous Technology Group, we are bringing together our global experts and their vast knowledge in automated trucking,” said Schmidt. “In the first stage, we will focus on use cases of highly automated driving in defined areas and between defined hubs in the U.S.A. In doing so, we will work closely together with customers whose business matches this automated driving application. We will not only develop the respective technology but also set up the required operations infrastructure and network.”