Volvo is creating a business area to offer autonomous transport solutions for mining customers from 1 January 2020.
Volvo says autonomous transport solutions that are based on self-driving and connectivity technologies are well suited for applications where there is a need to move large volumes of goods and material on pre-defined routes.
Volvo’s CEO Martin Lundstedt says: “It is a logical next step for us to gather expertise and resources in a new business area with profit and loss responsibility to take autonomous transport solutions to the next level.”
The company has already demonstrated a range of autonomous transport solutions, including the Electric Site project, in which material handling was automated and electrified at Skanska’s Vikan Kross quarry, near Gothenburg. Tests revealed a 98% reduction in carbon emissions and a 40% reduction in operator cost, the company says.
At the Brønnøy Kalk mine in Norway, autonomous Volvo FH trucks will be used in commercial operation to transport limestone along a 5km stretch.
