UPS and Aurrigo have announced a collaborative project to deploy Auto-Cargo, an autonomous electric vehicle designed to move heavy cargo loads to and from aircraft at the UPS hub at East Midlands Airport, the UK’s second-largest cargo terminal.
The vehicle can transport a standard full-size cargo pallet or two half-size aviation industry standard containers or Unit Load Devices (ULD) up to a total load of 7.5 tonnes and is designed to tow a further fully loaded cargo trailer behind it.
Its autonomous technology will enable the limited numbers of security-cleared drivers to be freed-up to perform other roles around the airport, while also producing zero tail pipe emissions.
The programme is supported by matched funding from Innovate UK, the UK Government’s innovation agency, and CCAV, with almost 500K GBP in funding. The two companies will develop and pilot Auto-Cargo at East Midlands Airport over a 14-month period.
David Keene, Aurrigo CEO: “This vehicle allows an airfreight operator to help decarbonise and automate its ground operations for lower emissions and greater efficiency. By combining the tractor and trailer into one unit, we save space, which in a busy cargo hub like East Midlands Airport is vital to efficient loading and unloading of aircraft.’’
Advertisement
Matt Nicholson, UPS International Director of Automotive Engineering: “Our business is all about delivering parcels efficiently through our global, integrated network. This collaboration will help us do that with increased safety and zero tailpipe emissions, making our airside operation more efficient with a purpose-designed vehicle.’’
This looks fantastic. Might it have an application in passenger luggage handling? I’ve long thought that bags handled one by one is hugely inefficient and slow.
Imagine if passenger baggage was containerised, with passengers being helped to put their cases into a container marked with their flight number, the container loaded whole into an aircraft, and then at destination the container moved almost automatically into the baggage retrieval area, opening up for passengers to pull out their own luggage. The whole process could be speeded up enormously, with a big reduction in labour costs, and the numbers of lost and damaged bags would plummet. After all, that last element alone must cost the airlines millions. Can’t wait!
Is anyone working on something like this?