IVECO, Plus, dm-drogerie markt and DSV to Commence Automated Trucking Pilot in Germany

IVECO, the commercial vehicle brand of Iveco Group, and Plus announced with dm-drogerie markt, Europe’s largest home and personal care retail company, and DSV, one of the world’s leading transport and logistics providers, the start of their semi-automated truck pilot in Germany.

After several months of stringent testing and validation, the program will use a new production intent design of the IVECO S-Way heavy-duty truck equipped with Plus’s driver-supervised highly automated driving software, PlusDrive®. This brings the PlusDrive-enabled IVECO S-Way one step closer to the start of series production.

The test runs on the route between the dm distribution center in Waghäusel and the DSV distribution center in Gernsheim. In the first phase, drivers from IVECO will be conducting the test and be accompanied by DSV drivers for training. After this, the trained drivers will be able to drive themselves.

By delivering commercial freight for a shipper customer, the program will enable the gathering of real-world data on the operational benefits of the PlusDrive-enabled IVECO S-Way. Benefits demonstrated in other global customer deployments of PlusDrive include reduced driver fatigue, improved road safety, and increased fuel efficiency which in turn decreases carbon emissions. These ultimately lead to a reduction in total cost of ownership for fleets.

The program will also validate the readiness of the latest-generation PlusDrive-enabled IVECO S-Way, which has been optimized for series production and delivery of high-performance automated driving features. In the optimized design, advanced sensors have been integrated and lidar is optional for the vision-centric perception system on PlusDrive. PlusDrive continues to deliver on the highly automated driving features of lane centering, cut-in handling, lane merges, driver initiated or system suggested lane changes, traffic jam assist, and nudging, all under the supervision of the driver.

DSV and dm-drogerie markt have been working together in partnership since 1986 and have been jointly developing advanced solutions within their supply chains for years.

In 2021, DSV and dm jointly signed a declaration of intent to further promote innovative and sustainable projects. By testing this technology, both companies are once again demonstrating their successful partnership in their shared desire for innovation and future orientation.

DSV and dm are the first companies in Germany to test the semi-autonomous driver assistance solution in trucks in Europe.