Automated, all-day freight conveyor belts will significantly reduce emissions and address skyrocketing demand for transportation services.
Six decades after the first bullet train carried passengers between Tokyo and Osaka, Japanese authorities are making similar plans to carry goods through the construction of “conveyor lines”. The automated freight corridor connecting Tokyo with Osaka (515 km) is part of the solution to meet the skyrocketing demand for transportation services in the world’s fourth largest economy, according to Guardian. Planners also hope the road will ease pressure on transport drivers amid a chronic labor shortage affecting everything from food service and retail to freight and traffic. public.
The new road will reduce carbon emissions, according to Yuri Endo, the transportation ministry official in charge of the project. “We need to innovate our approach to roads,” Endo shared. “The key idea of automated roads is to create space within the road network for freight transport, taking advantage of a 24-hour driverless transport system.”
A graphic video shared by the Japanese government shows large containers on pallets, each able to carry a ton of weight, moving close together along an automated conveyor belt in the middle of the highway, while the Vehicles run in opposite directions on both sides. Automatic forklifts will load goods onto containers located in the network connecting the airport, railway and seaport. Tests will begin in 2027 or early 2028, with the road becoming fully operational by mid-century.
Although there are no official estimates, the conveyor belt between Tokyo and Osaka will cost $23.69 billion based on the large number of tunnels. If successful, the project will be expanded to include more places in Japan. However, people still need to transport goods for door-to-door delivery until driverless vehicles can be used.
Japan’s Ministry of Transport estimates that freight conveyor belts can do the work of 25,000 truck drivers every day. The shortage of truck drivers responsible for carrying about 90% of Japan’s goods will increase sharply after the introduction of a law limiting overtime this year to reduce the number of accidents.