Investigating the Requirements of Automated Vehicles for Port-internal Logistics of Containers

With its potential of increasing economic efficiency, safety and process reliability automated driving offers substantial benefits for road freight logistics. Limited by technical and regulatory hurdles, first use cases of automated driving in logistics are in pilot testing stage on private areas or include traffic scenarios with fixed, foreseeable environmental conditions. These conditions partially exist in seaports. This article addresses the feasibility and specific requirements of automated trucks when implemented in seaport systems. A hybrid study consisting of a semi-structured interview survey and an extended project review is conducted to analyze the applicability of fully automated vehicles for the transportation of containers in port areas and its resulting requirements. Firstly, a review of currently existing automated road freight projects and their findings about container transportation is given. Secondly, port-related requirements for automated road freight transportation are derived as a result of the interview survey. The authors find main requirements in the technical feasibility, the operation of the vehicles as well as the organizational and process integration into the port system.