Daimler, parent company of Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner trucks, held the first road-test of its autonomous truck on a stretch of Germany’s Autobahn near the company’s Stuttgart headquarters. The truck is a Mercedes-Benz Actros model equipped with Daimler’s intelligent Highway Pilot system.

Daimler first showed off the truck in July of last year, and earlier this year Daimler’s North American truck division, which manufactures Freightliner trucks, unveiled the first autonomous commercial vehicle licensed to operate on a U.S. public highway. The Freightliner Inspiration, as the truck is called, also uses Daimler’s Highway Pilot system.

A local government official in Germany said:

Partially autonomous and autonomous driving indicates that a new age of mobility is dawning. It marks an important step towards more intelligent and above all more efficient use of the available infrastructure. Autonomously driving and networked vehicles improve the flow of traffic and can play a decisive role in helping to avoid traffic jams and relieving the strain on drivers. They also boost traffic safety.

The version of the Highway Pilot installed in the Mercedes-Benz Actros allows semi-autonomous driving, meaning that the truck is able to steer by itself on motorways. The driver retains full responsibility, needs to monitor the traffic at all times, and must be able to intervene at any time. The company likens the Highway Pilot the autopilot commonly used in aviation.

The company also noted that both the Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025 and the Freightliner Inspiration truck are concept vehicles. Still, Daimler now can claim to have sent a series-production autonomous truck onto public roads for the first time.

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