Delivery workers unload goods from a truck at night in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Stanislav Kojcu | Sopa Images | Light Rocket | Getty Images
Japan is planning to build an automated freight corridor between Tokyo and Osaka, dubbed a “conveyor belt” by the government, to make up for a shortage of truck drivers.
The amount of funding for the project has not yet been determined. But it is seen as a key way to help the country cope with a surge in deliveries.
one computer graphics video The government production shows the giant wheeled boxes moving along a three-lane corridor, also known as a “vehicle flow path,” in the middle of a highway. The trial system will begin commissioning in 2027 or early 2028, with the goal of being fully operational by the mid-2030s.
“We need to innovate in how we treat roads,” said Yuri Endo, senior deputy director at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism who oversees the work.
In addition to making up for shrinking labor force and the need to reduce driver workload, this system will also help reduce carbon emissionsshe said.
“The key concept of automobile mobility roads is to create dedicated logistics spaces within the road network using 24-hour automation and unmanned transportation systems,” Endo said.
The plan sounds like a solution that would only work in relatively low-crime, densely populated societies like Japan, not in vast countries like the United States. The Swiss plan involves an underground tunnel, while the London plan will be a fully automated system running on low-cost linear motors.
In Japan, loading will be automated using forklifts and coordinated with airports, railways and ports.
The boxes are 180 centimeters, or nearly 6 feet, high, 110 centimeters, or 3.6 feet long, and 110 centimeters wide and long, about the size of a large wardrobe.
The system is also suitable for commercial deliveries and may be expanded to other routes if all goes well. Although driverless technology may be used in the future, human driving may still be needed to deliver last-mile deliveries to people’s doorsteps.
Japan has a growing shortage of truck drivers due to a law that took effect earlier this year limiting overtime hours for drivers. This is considered necessary to avoid overwork and accidents and to make work bearable, but in Japan’s logistics, government and transportation sectors, it is known as the “2024 problem.”
Under current circumstances, Japan’s overall transportation capacity will decline by 34% by 2030, according to government estimates. According to the Japan Trucking Association, domestic transportation capacity is approximately 4.3 billion tons, almost all (ie, more than 91%) transported by trucks.
This is just a small part of a country as big as the United States. The unit is one ton moved one mile.
Government data shows that demand for online shopping and delivery among Japanese households has surged during the epidemic, with the proportion of users jumping from about 40% to more than 60%, even as the overall population continues to decline. Decline in birth rate.
Like most places, truck driving jobs are tough, requiring them to be on the road for days at a time, and most job seekers find the job unappealing.
In recent years, the annual death toll from delivery truck road collisions has hovered around 1,000. That’s an improvement from nearly 2,000 deaths in 2010, but the Trucking Associations, a group of about 400 trucking companies and organizations across the country, wants to make deliveries safer.
The association also urged consumers to keep delivery orders or at least bundle orders. Some industry experts are urging businesses to limit free shipping.
Yuji Yano, a professor at Yanagi University of Economics, said that about 90% of Japan’s goods are carried by trucks, and about 60% of Japan’s fresh agricultural products (such as fruits and vegetables) come from distant places that require truck transportation. Founded by express delivery giant Nippon Express (now known as NX Holdings), it focuses on economics and liberal arts studies, including trucking issues.
“This means that the problem in 2024 is not just a transportation problem, but a people’s problem,” Yano said.
