Volvo Deploy Autonomous Transport Trucks in Norwegian Limestone Mine

Autonomous trucks have begun work in a limestone quarry in Norway, in one of the early tests of Volvo’s new autonomous transport service due to be fully operational in 2019. Six autonomous trucks are working for Norwegian miner Brønnøy Kalk transporting limestone materials down a five-kilometer long tunnel to a stone crusher 24 hours a day. Brønnøy Kalk has not purchased the trucks from Volvo but has agreed to rent them instead as part of a Volvo total transport solution. In this case Brønnøy Kalk are paying Volvo to transport lime from one location to another. Volvo receives payment for each ton of lime successfully delivered to the crusher. This is a clever approach by Volvo as one of the biggest turn-offs when it comes to adopting new technologies is the initial set up cost. In the mining industry the price of equipment is significant and the purchase of six autonomous trucks using a nascent technology may not be feasible for most enterprises