An autonomous truck, using FABU self-driving technology, waits to be loaded.
Autonomous package delivery services have begun in China—marking a first for the country.
Delivery and logistics companies China Post and Deppon Express have begun making the deliveries with the “first self-driving vehicles to be put into daily commercial use in China,” according to a news release. The vehicles operate on driverless technology developed by FABU Technology, an artificial intelligence company that focuses on intelligent driving systems.
FABU first partnered with the companies in November, and Deppon Express then began testing Level 4 autonomous driving trucks in China’s Zhejiang Province, a heavily populated area.
The trucks averaged 40-mile daily round trips along three routes during the tests, with one of those routes passing through 50 intersections—26 of which were controlled by traffic lights. They operated both during the day and night, on highways, through tunnels and along residential roads. The tests were conducted in winter, meaning the trucks also had to navigate through challenging weather conditions such as rain, snow and fog.
During the testing period, the vehicles drove more than 2,200 miles and delivered more than 60,000 parcels.
“We are very excited that FABU technology is at the heart of the first autonomous delivery trucks in China,” FABU founder and CEO Xiaofei He said, according to the release. “China Post and Deppon have also been very pleased with the performance of FABU self-driving technology in their trucks and plan on expanding their autonomous delivery services to 100 routes in the near future.”
