Replacing 25,000 truck journeys with a 500km conveyor belt – might work in Japan

An overland conveyor for coal transport Photo: © Sukarman .

Japan is hatching a new plan for a so-called ‘autoflow road’, replacing truck traffic with a 500km cargo conveying belt, travelling in tunnels under motorways, and beside them on the hard shoulder or central reservation, between Tokyo and Osaka.

The primary motivation for the scheme is dealing with the shortage in truck drivers, a problem common to many economies including the US and UK. Many of Japan’s truck drivers will age out of the pool by 2030, and according to a ...