Autonomous Solutions Make Supply Chain Workers Safer

Autonomous solutions in distribution yards improve safety, efficiency and cost control by reducing human involvement in hazardous tasks and minimizing risks to workers.

• By Londonne Corder
• Oct 14, 2024

Distribution yards are an integral link in a supply chain. Twenty billion tons of freight move through these yards each year between warehouses and over-the-road (OTR) trucking, and those who staff them are key players in the global economy. 

But distribution yards are as dangerous as they are critical. Employees navigate around 80,000-pound industrial vehicles in congested areas. They work long hours, day and night, performing repetitive tasks which can lead to strain injuries in all kinds of conditions. Additionally, these workers are often exposed to harmful emissions and particles like diesel exhaust.

Such inhospitable conditions and hazardous tasks often lead to safety incidents for humans and yard equipment. Employers have a responsibility to ensure the physical safety of their staff, protect their employer brand reputation and control insurance costs.

As every industry learns to embrace autonomy, supply chain leaders should consider how this technology can improve their operations, protect worker safety and keep equipment in good working order. Investing in autonomy offers employers the best of both worlds: more efficient yards and a safer environment for employees. 

How Autonomy Promotes Safety 

When trucks are able to navigate around the distribution yard without a human operator, it cuts down on the amount of people required in the yard. And fewer people in the yard means fewer injuries and less exposure to pollution. 

Large distribution yards are complex and chaotic. They’re home to all types of traffic, including OTR trucks, golf carts, pickup trucks, delivery trucks, construction vehicles and pedestrians. All of these must negotiate around the yard and each other safely. When autonomous yard trucks are enabled with advanced perception capabilities, they’re able to move with increased precision. Such vehicles can detect obstacles in their path, yield to or stop for oncoming traffic, and adhere to regulations like speed limits and stop signs.

Autonomous systems also minimize the risks associated with daily operations. Consider the seemingly simple act of connecting brake lines to trailers as an example. Truck drivers around the world connect and disconnect pressurized brake lines from trailers approximately 6 billion times per year. This process involves releasing the parking brake so the truck can move trailers around the distribution yard.

Tedious and oftentimes dangerous, this task exposes drivers to hazards like falls, ergonomic issues, other industrial vehicles, and inhaling emissions and particles. But with vision-based, deep learning-enabled robotics, it can be automated: robotic arms can be programmed to mimic the fine motor skills of a human and connect truck to trailer by way of the gladhand. 

It’s also advantageous for autonomous vehicles (AVs) to be built on electric truck platforms, further reducing yard workers’ exposure to inhaling emissions and particles and promoting respiratory health.

All of this makes automation a fundamental safety enhancement. It removes the need for human workers to perform dangerous tasks in confined areas surrounded by industrial equipment. And it reduces the risk of human error due to distractions or fatigue.

Controlling Costs and Protecting Employer Reputation 

Worker safety is every employer’s top priority when considering implementing autonomous solutions. However, this technology has implications for controlling costs and protecting employer reputation as well. 

• Labor. With autonomous vehicles responsible for hazardous jobs in the yard, work can be allocated towards higher value tasks that take advantage of humans’ unique problem-solving skills.

• Driver turnover. When drivers aren’t overworked, overburdened, or feel unsafe performing their daily tasks, they’re less likely to seek employment elsewhere. Supplementing the work of human employees with autonomous solutions — and automating their most hazardous responsibilities — is a boon for retention and morale. 

• Insurance costs. The right autonomous yard technology will be programmed first and foremost to follow the rules of the yard. This means vehicles are regulatory sticklers, minimizing the risk of costly OSHA violations and equipment damage. 

All of this translates to controlling costs and improving an employer’s reputation, both in the marketplace and among existing and potential employees. The ROI of positive employer perception can be impossible to calculate but too massive to ignore. 

Conclusion

As the holiday season approaches, scaling up operations to meet demand while keeping workers out of harm’s way is on everybody’s mind. Automation is a viable path to achieve these ends over time with the right investments today.

All told, fewer people in the yard means fewer safety incidents. But it doesn’t mean fewer jobs for human workers. Instead, it enables them to work in more human-friendly environments and utilize their unique problem-solving skills.

When considering introducing autonomy into your distribution yard, there are three essentials to consider: automating end-to-end trailer moves from parking spots to dock doors, the ability to work fluidly in complex yards, and integrating into existing yard operations. 

Furthermore, AVs must be inherently safe for humans. They must have powerful perception capabilities, robust obstacle detection and avoidance, redundant safety features, and visual and audio indicators for operating in autonomous mode. 

As automation becomes the new norm, it’s helping large enterprises protect their most valuable assets – their employees – while simultaneously improving employer reputation and controlling costs.