On October 10, Yamato Transport, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), and Tier IV announced that their joint demonstration project for trunk line transportation using autonomous semi-trailers had been selected in a public offering by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism for a demonstration project aimed at the social implementation of trunk line transportation using autonomous trucks. They also revealed the outline of the demonstration project.
The demonstration will use an autonomous semi-trailer, which is a combination of an autonomous tractor developed by MFTBC and Tier IV and a trailer from the Yamato Group.
By using the vehicles for trunk line transportation between the Kanto and Kansai regions within the Yamato Group, we will verify their operation, performance, and safety in a way that is appropriate for actual business operations.
Based on the knowledge gained from the demonstration, we will work to improve our autonomous driving technology and aim to utilize Level 4 (highly automated driving) autonomous semi-trailers in Yamato Group's trunk line transportation in the future.
■ Overview of the demonstration
Demonstration period: January-February 2026
Vehicle used: 1 autonomous semi-trailer
Demonstration section: Yamato Group's transportation route between Kanto and Kansai.
Roles of each company: ◎ Yamato Transport = Implementation of trunk line transportation using "Level 2+" (partially automated driving) autonomous semi-trailers ◎ MFTBC = Development of autonomous driving tractors (provision of autonomous driving function-equipped vehicles "Super Great") ◎ Tier IV = Development of tractors with autonomous driving function (provision of autonomous driving technology)
Verification Contents: ◎ Performance, safety, and driving time of autonomous semi-trailer ◎ Logistics hub operations tailored to actual operations of the Yamato Group ◎ Operations for remotely managing autonomous semi-trailer ◎ Acquisition of basic data during driving
