They reduce the highway between Beijing and Tianjin Port: Big Laoris, loaded and fully capable of navigating themselves.

Certainly, according to the government’s rules, there is a security driver in the seat, but these lawries do not need them, and many analysts say they will not take much time before leaving.

When “Safety Driver” Hu Kangtian, 32, first removes his hands from the wheel, and let the lorry drive itself, it is somehow impressive and disappointing in similar measures.

For the early stages of the trip, he is under complete control. Then – at a certain point – he hits some buttons, and the powerful, heavy machine is driving itself, moving at the speed for Tianzin with a public road.

“Surely, I felt that for the first time I removed an autonomous truck,” Mr. Huo says. “But, after spending a lot of time to see and test these machines, I think they are really very good and safe.”

As the lorry exits freeway and increases a ramp towards toll gates, the machine is still running itself. On the other side of the tollgate, Mr. Huo again press some buttons, and he is in charge.

“My job as a safety driver is to act as the last line of defense. For example, in terms of emergency, I must immediately withdraw the control of the vehicle to ensure everyone’s safety,” they explain.

In terms of ups and downs for a driver, he says that switching to autonomous mode can help in combating stress and fatigue, as well as help to free hands and feet for other tasks. He says that it does not boring his job, but is more interesting.

Asked if he is worried whether this technique can one day observe his job, he says that he does not know much about it.

This is a diplomatic answer.

Currently, Pony AI’s fleet of driverless lories working on these testing routes is the beginning of the coming time, the company’s vice -president Lee Hengue told the BBC.

“In the future, with driverless operations, our transport efficiency will definitely improve a lot,” they say. “For example, labor costs will be reduced, but more importantly we can treat harsh environment and longer driving better.”

Yang Rigang, a technology professor professor at Shanghai Jiaotong University, says all this is boiling, saving money, which is a widespread experience working on driverless technology in both China and America.

“Anything that can reduce operating costs is something that a company wants, so it is quite easy to justify investing in being a completely autonomous, driverless truck,” he tells the BBC.

In short, they say, the goal is simple: “Reduce the cost of the driver closer to zero.”

However, the Lauries remain important obstacles before running themselves on the streets around the world – the least of which is not a public concern.

In China, the self-driving technology suffered a major setback after an accident, killing three students of the university after his vehicle stayed in the “Auto Pilot” mode.

Economist intelligence unit analyst Chim Lee says the Chinese people still have a lot of way before it wins.

“We know that recent accidents related to passenger cars have created a huge uproar in China. Therefore, for driverless trucks – even though they are more specific for some places for some time – for public image policy makers, and the market as well as the market is going to be absolutely important than the passenger vehicles.”

Professor Yang agrees that the lorry drivers are yet to lose their jobs in large numbers.

“We have to discuss the context. Open environment? Probably not. High speed? Certainly not. But, if it is a low speed position, such as the final mile delivery trucks, it is already here.”

In the Anhui province of eastern China, hundreds of driverless delivery navigate through the suburban roads of Van Hefei – a city with an official population of eight million – around them as human -powered scooters and cars.

It was once one of the poorest cities in the country, but these days its government wants it to be known as a place of future, prepared to give a chance to new technology.

Gary Huang, president of the autonomous vehicle company, Rino.ai, says he discovered a market space, where driverless delivery van can send parcels from a large distribution hub run by courier companies. At that time, scooters carry the drivers, leaving the package to the front doors of the people.

“We are allowing the courier to stay within the community regions to pick up and release, while the autonomous vans handle long -range visits. It enhances the efficiency of the entire system,” he tells us.

Reino is also talking to other countries, and the company says the fastest lift of its vehicles will be in Australia later this year, when a supermarket chain will begin to use its driverless delivery vehicles.

Meanwhile, in China, they say that they are now running more than 500 vans with road access to more than 50 cities.

However, Hefei remains the most advanced.

Apart from Rino, the city has now allowed other driverless delivery van companies to operate.

Gary Huang says that this is due to a combination of factors.

“Incentive came from the government, followed by local experiment, gaining experience, refinement of rules and ultimately allowing a comprehensive implementation.”

And you can see them on the streets, replace the streets, before they turn, draw on red lights and avoid other traffic.

For courier companies, the number tells the story.

According to Zhang Kitchen, the Regional Director of Reino for the Anhui province, the delivery is not only sharp, but companies can rent three autonomous electric delivery vans that will run for days without the need for a driver’s same cost for a driver.

She says that she has been blown up at the pace of change in her industry and says that she would not be surprised if heavy, long -lasting Laoris regularly driving themselves on the streets under some circumstances within five years.

Professor Yang agrees. “The heavy truck running with a highway unrestricted, at least five years away.”

Asked if it can actually happen so soon, he responds: “I am sure that it will happen. In fact, I believe it will happen.”

Inward sources in the industry say that the most immediate application for driverless lories prefers open-cut mines or ports, in addition to industrial areas-in remote, rigid areas with extreme environmental conditions, especially with spacious stretch and in a large-scale straight trajectory.

However, important technical challenges remain.

Heavy lories require better cameras so that the distance can be tracked well in the distance to detect too much threats below the road can be a person; More difficult roads may also require to keep additional sensors along the route; Other obstacles may involve sudden, unexpected threats between excessive weather or sudden, very busy traffic.

At the top of all this, technology – when it comes to heavy lorry – is still not cheap. What is more, these vehicles now modify the old style lorry instead of self-driving vehicles directly from the production line.

China wants to become a champion of new technology, but also to be careful, not only the possibility of fatal accidents, but also because of how Chinese people can see this change.

“This is not just about meeting the rules. It’s not just about creating a public image,” says Chim Lee. “But, over time, the public will see the advantage of this technology, see how it will reduce their cost to buy things, or as a way to imagine that society is improving, rather than that it is being destroyed as a technique that is potentially destroyed, which removes car accidents or employment opportunities.”

Professor Yang see another problem. “We humans can tolerate another human driver to make mistakes, but our tolerance for autonomous trucks is very less. Machines are not going to make mistakes. Therefore, we have to ensure that the system is extremely reliable.”