Tekniikan Maailma’s article on Kalmar’s container handlers and the automation and electrification of ports:
A few excerpts from the article:
Cargo handling in ports is rapidly automating. Driver-assisted systems are commonplace even in container handlers, but in large automated terminals, human drivers are already disappearing.
Accidents in automated driving are extremely rare. Because of this, automated terminals receive discounts on their insurance premiums.
Another megatrend in work machines is electrification. In this too, ports are far ahead of road traffic.
Currently, 85 percent of the container handlers supplied by Kalmar are diesel-electric. This has reduced the machines’ 11-liter diesel engines to 5-liter ones, and cut fuel consumption by up to 40 percent.
Now many ports are already transitioning to fully electric fleets.