China's autonomous trucks are powering the next generation of smart ports

China’s busiest ports have embraced fully autonomous logistics, replacing thousands of human drivers with driverless cargo vehicles (DCVs) and intelligent guided vehicles (IGVs). These autonomous trucks operate seamlessly alongside towering gantry cranes, transporting containers and bulk cargo efficiently without collisions, thanks to real-time route planning. Unlike the automated guided vehicles (AGVs) of the 1990s, which required expensive infrastructure upgrades, today’s DCVs and IGVs offer greater flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and easier integration, accelerating their adoption across China’s ports. Several factors drive this rapid transition: rising labor costs due to demographic shifts, increased cargo throughput from the Belt and Road Initiative, and China’s environmental commitments to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. These forces push ports to modernize sustainably and efficiently. The market for driverless port vehicles in China is projected to grow explosively, with compound annual growth rates exceeding 130% from 2021 to 2025 and remaining