Deutsche Post DHL is to deploy a test fleet of autonomous delivery trucks from 2018. The German logistics giant is working with automotive supplier ZF and AI specialist NVIDIA.

NVIDIA released a statement that announced Deutsche Post DHL will outfit a number of electric light vehicles with the ZF ProAI driving system that is based on the NVIDIA DRIVE PX technology. The software automates package transportation and delivery, including last mile deliveries.

Deutsche Post DHL has a fleet of StreetScooters that are designed to be retrofitted with the ZF driving sensors that include cameras, lidar, and rader. These sensors feed into the ZF ProAI computer system.

“Research and development of ecological, economical and efficient transportation will bring dramatic changes to the logistics industry,” said Jürgen Gerdes, member of the Board of Management at Deutsche Post AG. “Partnering with NVIDIA and ZF will enable us to responsibly support this development, benefit from it and reinforce our position as the industry´s innovation leader.”

In certain regions of the world there is an acute shortage of delivery drivers and this system being developed by Deutsche Post DHL should fill those gaps. AI and self-driving vehicles are set to change the delivery sector radically in the coming years regardless of whether there is the labour force to be replaced or not – like it or not, robots are set to replace large swathes of the labour force, causing great social change.  
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