Lanchabang, Thailand, 22 Oct (Xinhua) -- China's unmanned vehicles are helping Thailand's modern green port construction
Xinhua News Agency reporters Wang Yuanyuan, Ding Ting, and Zhou Rui
This is May 27, 2021, a driverless truck (right) drives at Laem Chabang Port in Chonburi Province, Thailand. Xinhua News Agency
A few days ago, the Chinese driverless truck team at the port of Laem Chabang in eastern Thailand has come to the "new member" - the second batch of 20 unmanned trucks has arrived and will be put into use in the near future.
Located in the Eastern Economic Corridor, Thailand's economic heartland, Laem Chabang Port is Thailand's largest deep-sea container port and logistics hub. At the busy Pier D, driverless and human-driven vans shuttled back and forth, carrying containers from around the world to their destinations. The driverless van uses a Lego-style modular front to replace the traditional cab, and the simple body drags the container to its destination.
Sutila, assistant operations manager of Pier D operator Hutchison Port Group Thailand, meticulously records the operation of driverless trucks, reminding passing truck drivers from time to time how to work with driverless trucks.
This is a driverless van photographed on October 19 at the port of Ramchabang in Chonburi Province, Thailand. Xinhua News Agency
According to Sutila, more than 1,000 trucks enter and exit Pier D every day, and now driverless and human-driven trucks are working in the same area. During the trial run of the first six driverless vans in April 2020, port staff and truck drivers were very curious about the drones from China, looking forward to seeing how they would work and learn how to work with them.
Sutila said that we worked with the team of Shanghai Xijing Information Technology Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of driverless trucks, to train people on how to work with driverless trucks, including more than 30,000 truck drivers entering and leaving the port. Most drivers now know that driverless trucks need to "keep their distance" and that "intimate behaviors" such as approaching, overtaking, and plugging will force them to stop.
Yang Yujun, project leader of Shanghai Xijing Information Technology Co., Ltd. in Thailand, came to Laem Chabang with driverless trucks and has been responsible for technical support for more than two years. "At present, the capacity of driverless trucks is close to that of human-driven trucks, and the second batch of driverless trucks arriving at the port can independently complete battery replacement within 6 minutes, and in the future, as the proportion of port automation becomes higher and higher, the efficiency of driverless trucks will be higher than that of human-driven trucks." Yang Yujun said.
This is the port of Ramchabang photographed on October 19 in Chonburi province, Thailand. Xinhua News Agency
Through the joint efforts of the teams of China and Thailand, driverless trucks have begun to "show their skills" and play an increasingly important role in cargo transportation. Sutila said that especially during the new crown epidemic, driverless trucks have somewhat alleviated the shortage of port capacity. It is understood that by the end of August 2022, the unmanned cargo fleet has accumulated more than 150,000 TEUs.
Tan Limin, founder and CEO of Shanghai Xijing Information Technology Co., Ltd., said that a driverless truck can bear the workload of 4 drivers, which not only saves energy costs than fuel vehicles, but also greatly reduces carbon emissions.
Thailand is committed to building Laem Chabang Port into a green and modern port connecting rail, road and inland waterway transportation networks to achieve rapid distribution between Thailand and neighboring countries. Driverless trucks have become an important part of remote control operations at Pier D at the port of Ramchabang. Stephen, general manager of Hutchison Ports Thailand, said that the Laem Chabang Port driverless truck project has become a demonstration project and is being promoted to the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and other countries.
"I have been working at the port of Laem Chabang for more than ten years, and I am excited to learn about China's driverless technology for the first time through this project." Sutila said.