Cargo containers bearing the Hanjin logo. Photo by WALLACE WOON / EPA
July 9 (Asia Today) -- Hanjin has launched South Korea's first paid freight transport service using an autonomous cargo truck, opening what the company described as a new stage for commercial self-driving logistics.
Hanjin said it completed a demonstration project with a 25-ton autonomous truck and received paid freight transport approval from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The company has started using the vehicle to carry actual parcel freight.
The route covers about 118 kilometers, or 73 miles, from Gunsan Port in North Jeolla Province to Hanjin's Jeonju parcel terminal and then to the company's Daejeon Mega Hub. The truck will operate three times a week and a professional safety operator will remain in the driver's seat.
The 25-ton truck is a line-haul vehicle used to move large volumes of parcels between logistics hubs.
