Japan has a problem – there are n’t enough truck driver to meet demand . The result ? A stretch of highway connecting Tokyo and Osaka transformed into an automatize cargo transport corridor that ’s been dubbed a “ conveyor knock route ” .

The projection is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Land , Infrastructure , Transport and Tourism ( MLIT ) , with plans to build the three - lane corridor or “ autoflow road ” in the middle of an subsist main road .

“ We need to be modern with the room we approach route , ” Yuri Endo , a older surrogate director at MLIT , evidence theAssociated Press . “ The primal conception of the auto flow - road is to make consecrated space within the route web for logistics , utilize a 24 - hour automate and unmanned transportation arrangement . ”

But while the government has called the road a “ conveyor belt ” , that ’s more of a vibration - ground assessment touch on to its automated nature than a suggestion that it will literally work like a conveyor belted ammunition – a grocery storage checkout counter this is not .

Ananimated videocreated by MLIT gives an idea of what the project might actually look like upon culmination . It shows the three - lane road separated from the highway on either side of it by posture within a tunnel structure . Within it can be seen thedriverless vehiclesplanned to transfer goodness , which are passably much just cargo boxes on wheel .

Governmentdocumentsfrom the bailiwick group forge on the project discover that these corner are planned to travel along the corridor at a amphetamine of around 30 kilometers per hour ( 18.6 mile per hour ) . It ’s not just their movement that will be automated either ; the plan also paint a picture that the 1.8 by 1.1 by 1.1 - metre ( 5.9 by 3.6 by 3.6 feet ) cargo corner will also be load and unloaded using automate machinery .

While the ultimate goal is to pass over the intact route between Tokyo and Osaka , the first section of the corridor is intended to be a roughly 100 - km ( 62 miles ) stretch covering country near other major metropolis that see in high spirits levels of traffic congestion .

Tests of the system are planned as early as 2027 and , if all lead to design , completion is expected to be sometime in the mid-2030s . At this point , it ’s wait that the road will have the mental ability to channelize around 120,000 to 140,000 tons of cargo per day .

Though Endo told AP that a step-down in carbon paper emissions is also at play , one of the major drive forces behind the creative activity of the corridor is alack of hand truck drivers . While an increase in delivery demand might play a role , Japan is also facing problem from late put in labor Torah , as well as an mature universe – something that ’s happeningelsewheretoo .