Heavy truck ‘world first’ for Daimler

10th June 2015

Daimler Trucks has become the world’s first manufacturer to be granted a road licence for an autonomous heavy-duty truck.

In July of last year, Daimler Trucks gave the world’s first demonstration of an autonomous truck in action when the Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025 drove along a cordoned-off section of the A14 autobahn near Magdeburg. 

Now, the first appearance of the Freightliner Inspiration Truck on a public road in the USA marks the next step on the journey to series production. 

“Our Freightliner Inspiration Truck is the world’s first autonomous commercial vehicle to be licensed for road use,” Dr Wolfgang Bernhard, Daimler AG board member responsible for Trucks and Buses, said.  “Our achievement underlines our role as a technological pioneer and demonstrates our dedication to develop the technology for autonomous long-distance driving to series production standard.”

The Inspiration Truck is based on the series-produced Freightliner Cascadia Evolution model, but with the addition of the Highway Pilot technology.  The latter comprises a front radar and a stereo camera plus tried-and-tested assistance systems such as the Adaptive Cruise Control+, as seen in the Mercedes-Benz Actros.

Martin Daum, the President and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America, commented:  “The Freightliner Inspiration Truck is all about more sustainable transport, for the benefit of the economy, society and consumers alike.  It remains our goal to be in a position to offer the Highway Pilot in series-produced vehicles from the middle of the coming decade.

“Our next goal is to test the Highway Pilot technology on public roads in Germany too.  Preparations are already under way.”