Munich, January 22, 2025: FERNRIDE, the leading European autonomous trucking company, is advancing its driverless testing capabilities with comprehensive trials. These trials are critical steps within the industrialization of the company’s product in compliance with the Machinery Directive and CE certification. They also mark a significant step toward enhancing the performance of FERNRIDE’s autonomous trucking solution in actual customer operations, upholding a fundamental principle of field robotics: develop and test robots where they will ultimately operate, not merely in controlled testing grounds.
Earlier last year, FERNRIDE completed a full-scale safety and security concept evaluation by TÜV SÜD.In 2024, FERNRIDE executed over 2,000 test scenarios in just 14 weeks, rigorously assessing the performance and safety of its autonomous terminal tractors. Even more extensive testing is planned for 2025, reinforcing the company’s commitment to setting a new standard for autonomous trucking on private yards in the EU.
“The testing and validation of our solution are critical steps toward achieving CE conformity, essential for scaling in the EU,” says Thomas Bock, CTO of FERNRIDE. “Equally important is our commitment to continuously enhancing our solution's performance on customer ground. By focusing on field testing, we ensure our technology delivers robust, reliable performance in the environments where it will operate, not just in controlled testing conditions.”
FERNRIDE provides a solution for yard and port logistics. Today, the company focuses on horizontal container transport in mixed-traffic operations, where autonomous terminal tractors operate alongside manual trucks, external trucks, container handling equipment, and humans. Currently, a safety driver is present in a cabin in live operations as an additional safety layer. The start of the fully driverless tests this year lays the path to driverless operations and the scaling of the automation solution in container terminals.
The trials assess FERNRIDE’s safety and performance concepts in operational environments, emphasizing critical real-world scenarios. These include automated navigation at intersections, responsiveness to other vehicles, and braking for unexpected road participants. Beyond evaluating technical robustness, the tests aim to address the last operational gaps traditionally managed by human drivers, ensuring a seamless transition to driverless operations.
Reflecting on the depth of testing and development, Thomas Bock explains, “It’s widely understood in the robotics and automotive industries that while 30-40% of development efforts are dedicated to functional development to deliver customer value, the remaining 60-70% focuses on verification, validation, and final industrialization to meet the high customers’ expectations towards reliability also at scale. This process includes achieving conformity, meeting stringent process and product quality goals, and ensuring flawless execution. With our team’s deep technical expertise and methodical approach, we are committed to fulfilling these standards, delivering a reliable, safe, and scalable solution.”