Self-Driving Truck Market Expected to Reach $41.2 Billion by 2035

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, “Self-Driving Truck Market," The self-driving truck market size was valued at $13.1 billion in 2025, and is estimated to reach $41.2 billion by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 12.1% from 2025 to 2035.

A self-driving truck, or autonomous truck, is one that supports the driver while also making decisions and navigating itself out of uncertain situations. Self-driving truck refers to autonomous driving technologies in trucks that allow them to run without human intervention by combining sensors, software, and advanced control systems. Technology is utilized in logistics and transportation to address issues such as driver shortages and to eliminate human errors that might result in road casualties. Self-driving trucks are also utilized to transport goods and commodities to a storage facility from an excavation site in a mine or an unloading zone at a port.

Moreover, the market is witnessing suitable growth in recent years, owing to the development of intelligent transport system. Moreover, the key manufacturers operating in the industry have been inclined towards developing and testing autonomous level 4 technology, where the autonomous system drives the truck by itself, but the manual override option is provided for the driver to take control at the moment of an emergency. For instance, TuSimple Holdings has started Level 4 autonomous testing on a critical Japanese freight corridor, in January 2023. Similarly, in September 2019, Daimler Trucks and Torc Robotics worked together to create and test SAE Level 4 intent technology autonomous trucks on public roads. All automated runs are overseen by an engineer and a highly trained safety driver certified by Daimler Trucks and Torc Robotics. Torc Robotics uses public road testing to construct and refine the system so that it can produce the required results. Such developments create a wider scope for the growth of the market across the globe.

Autonomous vehicles have several advantages over traditional vehicles from improved safety to reduction in fuel and traffic congestion and emissions. An autonomous truck will be installed with a wider range of sensors such as LiDAR, RADAR, camera, GPS among others. These sensors are short range (providing details of moving objects near the vehicle) as well as long range (providing details of high-speed oncoming vehicles) to help a vehicle sense any object or obstacle in its way, thus eliminating chances of accidents.

Autonomous vehicles can also help reduce traffic congestion. On the basis of a study by University of Illinois, it was proved that one autonomous vehicle stuck in traffic congestion with 20 other human driven vehicles can ease the congestion by controlling the pace of the vehicle. Fuel consumption also reduces with use of autonomous vehicles as fuel use increases when the vehicle slows down. Thus, reduction in traffic congestion and improved fuel efficiency due to self-driving trucks are expected to boost the growth of the self-driving truck market across the globe.

Moreover, Governments across countries implement regulations in support of autonomous vehicles. For instance, in September 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill for Safely Ensuring Lives Future Deployment and Research in Vehicle Evolution Act, or Self-Drive Act, which is waiting to get cleared from the Senate. The role of this act is to establish a federal framework for the regulation of self-driving trucks.

At present, the autonomous vehicle market players interested in testing driverless technology need to apply for exemptions to the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) federal motor vehicle safety standards, and the agency only grants 2,500 per year. The Self-Drive Act is projected to increase that cap to 25,000 per year initially, and expand it to 100,000 annually in three years’ time. Such developments are expected to create ample opportunities for the growth of the market across the globe.   

Moreover, the factors such as development of intelligent transport system, growth of connected infrastructure and improved safety coupled with reduction in traffic congestion. However, rise security and privacy concerns and software failures associated with automotive sensors hamper the growth of the market. On the contrary, decongestion of traffic and supportive government regulation to foster growth are the major factors that are expected to provide lucrative opportunities for the market growth during the forecast period.

COVID-19 Impact Analysis:

Nuro, Inc. was the first autonomous delivery firm to get an exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration under the Federal Motor truck Safety Standards to operate its driverless grocery delivery vehicle on public streets in February 2020. The use of supermarket delivery increased as a result of COVID-19, a 2019 partnership between Nuro, Inc. and a national grocery chain led in more broad deployment of Nuro's autonomous delivery vehicles in Houston, U.S. The emergence of COVID-19 opened a global business potential for self-driving trucks.

KEY FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

• By component, the software segment is projected to dominate the global market in terms of growth rate.
• By application, the logistics and transportation segment is projected to dominate the global self-driving truck market in terms of growth rate.
• By level of automation, the level 5 segment is projected to dominate the global market in terms of growth rate.
• By propulsion type, the electric transmission segment is projected to dominate the global market in terms of growth rate.

The key players operating in self-driving truck technology market are Waabi, Aurora Innovation Inc., PlusAI, Inc., Kodiak Robotics, Inc., Embark Trucks, Inc., Einride, RRAI, TuSimple, Jiluo Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and Torc Robotics.