Menü Menü
Welcome to the ERGO Group

Phone

E-Mail

Phone

+49 211 477-7100

Further contacts

E-Mail


kontakt@ergo.de


Further contacts

Schließen
1
Herunterladen
2
Zustimmen

Erstkontaktinformation nach § 15 Abs. 1 VersVermV

Facts & figures

Management

Business

Employees

Environment

Commitment

Reporting und figures

Autonomous trucking in the logistics sector


Interview with Fernride CEO Hendrik Kramer

Digitalisation & Technology, 03.11.2023

Efficient logistics is based on intelligent mobility solutions and has far-reaching economic and social implications. Sustainability, reliability and safety are key factors that are also the subject of insurance-related issues. In this interview, Hendrik Kramer, CEO and co-founder of Fernride, talks about the opportunities for the logistics industry, how it can already benefit from human-assisted autonomy - and the role that humans play in this. Similar to Insurtech Faye, ERGO has also invested in Fernride via a venture capital fund from Munich Re Ventures.

Hendrik Kramer, CEO and co-founder of Fernride

Hendrik Kramer, CEO and co-founder of Fernride

Mr Kramer, what is the idea behind the Fernride concept and how did it come about?

 Fernride is a spin-off of the Institute for Teleoperation at the Technical University of Munich and began research in this field in 2009. While the hype around autonomous vehicles peaked between 2015 and 2020, Fernride always believed in applying a human-machine collaboration approach to autonomous driving. At the time, this approach was ridiculed by many, but today it is clear that human-assisted autonomy - we call it a teleoperator that assists remotely when needed - may be the only way to commercialise and scale a business in the autonomous vehicle industry. Our success proves us right. Today, Fernride combines a decade of research with expertise from the autonomous vehicle and automotive industry and recruits executives from well-known companies. Fernride currently employs more than 130 people in offices in Munich and Wolfsburg. We have set ourselves the goal of becoming the global market leader in the field of autonomous lorry driving.

An ambitious goal. What solutions do you use to convince your customers?

Let's start with the current situation. Apart from unexpected global and regional events such as the coronavirus pandemic or the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which have a significant impact on the logistics supply chain, the logistics industry is caught between many serious influencing factors. It is struggling with low profit margins, an insufficient number of lorry drivers and the need to reduce CO2 emissions.

“The shortage of lorry drivers in Europe will increase from 400,000 to two million by 2026.”

Hendrik Kramer, CEO und Mitgründer von Fernride

Can you elaborate on this?

The shortage of lorry drivers in Europe will increase from 400,000 to two million by 2026. Rising labour costs and the consequences of demographic change will put further pressure on profits. And as the climate crisis worsens, companies will be faced with stricter emissions regulations and possible fines. Solutions need to be quick, economically viable and seamlessly integrated into ongoing logistics operations without causing disruption.

We are therefore focussing on challenges that we can already meet intelligently today with the help of our technology. The industry needs reliability in operations. This is exactly what our human-assisted autonomy approach achieves. This is possible thanks to the technology used by Fernride. We offer efficient, scalable automation solutions for yard trucking that increase productivity, promote sustainability and also improve employee safety. This is because potential sources of danger can be significantly reduced.

What exactly are the advantages over the current processes, what are you doing differently?

Fernride focuses on acute problems that can already be solved today: autonomous, electric truck driving in logistics centres, production facilities, intermodal and maritime terminals. So instead of relying solely on autonomous technology, we are convinced that human-machine collaboration ensures economic viability and provides the benefits our customers need today.

Mr Kramer, let's take a look into the future. Where does Fernride see new potential and opportunities?

As a next step, we want to work with our customers to bring autonomous lorry driving onto public roads. We are convinced that this will give us additional impetus to sustainably accelerate Fernride's path to market leadership for autonomous, electric lorry driving for all applications.

Text: Martin Sulkowsky

Your opinion
If you would like to share your opinion on this topic with us, please send us a message to next@ergo.de.

Related articles

Digitalisation & Technology 03.08.2023

Electric cars do not burn more often - but differently

Since the end of July, pictures of the burning freighter Fremantle Highway have been going around the world. On board were almost 3,800 new vehicles, 498 of them electric cars. What could have caused the fire? And what does the accident mean for the potential danger and future transport of electric and hybrid vehicles? An overview of the current studies and findings by Sebastian Meerschiff, mobility expert at ERGO Mobility Solutions.

Learn more

Digitalisation & Technology 30.06.2022

On the power of cooperation with start-ups

Why are partnerships with fintechs - or start-ups in general - so important for ERGO? And what do the start-ups get out of cooperating with such a big player? In his opening speech at this year's DIA, which took place in Amsterdam on 29 and 30 June 2022, ERGO CDO Mark Klein spoke enthusiastically about the factors for successful innovation management and the benefits of cooperation between large companies and start-ups.

Learn more

Digitalisation & Technology 07.12.2021

Digitalising the wrong way

The Munich Re and ERGO tech trend radar is an annual update on digital innovation. It highlights and assesses the latest tech hype from the perspective of an insurer. As Chief Digital Officer, it’s pretty hard to hold yourself back. You just want to dive straight in and apply the technology. But that is mistake number one – seeing digital transformation only in terms of the technology, says ERGO CDO Mark Klein.

Learn more