After decades checking their rearview mirrors for the threat from rail and air transport, truckers around the world are facing their latest rival head-on: driverless trucks. As companies from Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) to Google parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) race to develop driverless technology, trucking companies are seeing the potential to cut costs by nearly half and improve safety.
Already in Australia, the world's most truck-dependent nation, mining giants such as Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) are using remote controlled lorries to shift iron ore around massive mining pits.
Now the country's road transport companies are modernising fleets to ensure that when their industry goes autonomous, as early as the end of the decade, they are ready. "I don't see this as disruptive necessarily, as much as a natural evolution," said Sarah Jones, head of road transport compliance at Toll Holdings, Australia's biggest trucking company