Last year, Terberg launched its new YT193 and YT223 terminal tractors. The company’s AutoTUG automated terminal tractor is now being developed on the EV model to begin with. In an interview with WorldCargo News, Frank Oerlemans, export manager at Terberg, said the focus of development over the past 12 months had been making the machine more reliable and robust, and increasing the number of “safety cases” the AutoTUG automation system can support.

Remote-controlled operations are also possible with AutoTUG. One of the three function layers in the AutoTUG concept is ‘Drive by Wire’, which means an AutoTUG can be controlled via a CAN-bus interface to an electronic driver system, or a remote control station.

Oerlemans said Terberg has now completed several tests featuring Drive by Wire, including some where a third-party system steers, brakes and controls the tractor. This includes a machine supplied to ITS ConGlobal in the US, which is operated remotely by Phantom Auto over long distances and features a robot arm for connecting the air hoses to a trailer. Oerlemans said this technology shows a lot of potential as it provides a solution for machines in locations where qualified drivers are expensive and hard to find, as well as enabling one operator to control more than one machine.

Another application for the automation technology features a Terberg swap body handler that has a conventional cab and automated systems to position the machine and lift the swap body – the point where most damages occur with a manned machine.

Fully automated fleets

At this point, there are no container terminals operating a fleet of automated tractors for the quay-to-yard horizontal transport. From Terberg’s perspective, this is mainly because the ‘autonomous’ technology that terminal operators are looking for is not yet fully developed.

When AutoTUG was first launched, Terberg used a transponder navigation system from BTG Special Products for the positioning system. BTG has supplied transponder hardware for several AGV applications and the system is well-known in the market. When it comes to automated terminal tractors, however, terminal operators are pushing for autonomous vehicles that can navigate around the terminal without requiring any fixed infrastructure in the ground.

Oerlemans said the difficulty with this technology is that it is still in its infancy. Although much was promised over the past five years, there are still no widespread commercial deployments of autonomous trucks or other vehicles operating on public roads.

Sensor technology, on the other hand, continues to improve and Terberg is working with some new developments in this area. Again though, Oerlemans cautioned that there is still a tendency to underestimate the complexity of a container terminal working environment. LiDAR and other sensors, for example, are getting much better at making a map of the terminal for navigation, he said, but “there is nothing so quickly changing as a container terminal. The only thing that stays in place is the quayside and the lighting masts”.

Developing AutoTUG was always an ambitious project, but Terberg has continually stressed the need to be realistic about a timeline for a full fleet deployment, and Oerlemans said nothing has changed in that respect. There are no fleet deployments of autonomous tractors so far, said Oerlemans, because the technology that terminal operators are looking for is “not there yet”.

Terberg is still confident it will see a fleet of AutoTUGs operating at a container terminal in the near future. But it is much less realistic, cautioned Oerlemans, to expect that these machines will be existing tractors retrofitted with automation systems “due to the fact that it is very hard to get the safety case proven on technology that was intended to be used in manual mode by an operator”.

This concept is being promoted by other companies that do not make terminal tractors themselves, but it holds no promise for Terberg. The time and cost to adapt an automation system for even slightly different machines is considerable. For a vehicle such as a terminal tractor that has a relatively low capital cost and a high resale value, it makes much more sense to start with a uniform fleet of purpose-built autonomous machines.

Alternative fuels

Terberg also continues to develop alternatives to the diesel engine for its full product line, which includes a range of service vehicles as well as terminal tractors. Terberg’s new electric tractor is the YT203-EV, with the BC202-EV version for swap bodies. Launched last year, both machines feature a new driveline and battery system with DC charging.

Terberg offers three battery pack options – 96 kWh, 148 kWh and 222 kWh – which can be configured from two battery sizes, 48 kWh and 74 kWh. Last month, Terberg delivered a YT203-EV to Tarkett, a flooring manufacturer in Waalwijk, Netherlands. The customer will use the tractor to perform around 10 drayage trips per day between its manufacturing location and its warehouse, a distance of 1.5 km. For this application, Terberg installed a 148 kWh battery pack, which is more than adequate for the daily workload.

The number of electric machines in service is growing, but they are still a more expensive option in most applications when compared with a diesel unit. Oerlemans remains optimistic that this will change as CO2  taxes increase the cost of operating a diesel machine and levels the playing field, and as pricing for battery systems reduces over time.

For port applications, the requirement for 24/7 operations is an obstacle when it comes to charging an electric vehicle. Hydrogen could be a better option for the port duty cycle.

In October last year, Terberg began testing its first concept hydrogen-powered hybrid terminal tractor at United Waalhaven Terminals in Rotterdam. The tractor was developed in collaboration with Zepp Solutions, a tech start-up specialising in energy transition and furnishing electric systems with hydrogen fuel cells.

The machine is based on the YT203-EV platform and includes hydrogen tanks and a small battery pack. Oerlemans said that in testing, the machine has shown it can operate for the same length of time or slightly longer than the full electric model before needing to be refuelled. Terberg is now working to optimise the design with a view to starting commercial production in 2023.

Oerlemans said the ro-ro market in Europe, in particular, holds promise for hydrogen. Tractor operators there want to see an alternative to diesel machines for working in vessels, but batteries do not meet the required duty cycle.

Ro-ro tractors are heavy 4×4 machines that consume 10 litres of diesel per hour, compared with five litres for a tractor in a logistics application. In this scenario, Terberg’s largest 222 kWh battery pack could provide five hours of operation, which is not enough, and there is no room on a 4×4 machine for larger batteries. With a hydrogen driveline, a ro-ro tractor could operate for the same number of hours or more as a fully electric model, and can be refuelled in minutes. Because of this, Oerlemans predicts that roro operators will go straight from diesel to hydrogen drives. Again, cost is an issue but that is expected to change as hydrogen vehicles and the infrastructure to support them are developed, while at the same time, the cost of CO2  emissions increases.

Hydrogen could also be appealing in the North American market, where the need to support two or more shifts without a break for charging has limited the adoption of electric tractors in ports, despite the availability of grant funding to offset their extra cost. Oerlemans said Terberg does have the US market in mind but it is focusing on testing and developing electric and hydrogen machines in Europe first. Components in an electric drivetrain and battery packs often require UL certification for the US market, and Terberg wants to be further along in its development cycle before starting that process.  

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This complete item is approximately 1300 words in length, and appeared in the April 2021 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 22. To access this issue download the PDF here