Autonomous vehicles: When deliveries don’t wait for drivers

Most people take deliveries for granted. They just seem to work. Goods arrive overnight. Production lines keep moving. Store shelves stay full.

But those of us who work in logistics know how much coordination sits behind that reliability. Between warehouses, sorting centers and distribution hubs, thousands of transfers happen every day – often within tightly timed windows. That middle layer of the supply chain may be largely invisible to customers, but it plays a critical role in keeping goods moving efficiently. Even small delays caused by congestion, staffing constraints, or missed transfer windows can impact the wider flow of operations.

That’s why, in parts of Asia, we’ve been exploring how autonomous vehicles can help make these repetitive movements more flexible, predictable, efficient, and sustainable.

Together with autonomous vehicle (AV) startup Zelostech, we’ve begun operating fully electric, driverless vehicles that move goods within the grounds of the logistics hub in Singapore.

Zelostech was founded in China in 2021. The company builds autonomous vehicles specifically for short‑ and medium‑distance logistics routes – those repetitive, predictable journeys between hubs, sorting centers and warehouses that keep networks flowing, yet are becoming harder to operate efficiently. Today, Zelostech has some 4,000 fully electric autonomous vehicles on roads and warehouse grounds across more than 300 cities in China and Singapore.

So how does it work? From the outside, the process is simple: An employee loads shipments, dispatches the vehicle via a mobile app, and tracks its progress in real time. Each vehicle travels point-to-point navigating traffic and obstacles using sensors, mapping data and artificial intelligence. At the destination, another employee unloads the goods.

The key difference is that the vehicle handles the hub-to-hub journey autonomously.

Zelostech first caught our attention through the “DHL Fast Forward Challenge,” a program that supports young companies offering innovative solutions to meet the future needs of logistics and supply chains. The startup’s autonomous delivery vehicle was recognized for its potential to transform urban logistics, efficiency, and sustainability. From there, we moved quickly into proof‑of‑concept trials, followed by live deployments in warehouse environments.

The DHL-Zelostech partnership reflects a larger trend. global autonomous truck market size is projected to grow from $ 46.58 billion in 2026 to $107.7 billion by 2034, a compound annual growth rate of 11.04%, according to Fortune Business Insights. North America and Asia Pacific are leading this growth.

When it comes to AVs, the idea of going driverless on public roads is what captures most people’s imagination. But for us at DHL, some of the most tangible impacts happen on the grounds of our logistics campuses. 

Example: At our Advanced Regional Center (ARC) in Singapore, autonomous vehicles are now handling daily point‑to‑point transport between DHL‑managed facilities on site.  It’s the first DHL location  globally to take a Zelostech vehicle from innovation challenge to live, operational use.

Each vehicle can carry up to three pallets – as much as 1.5 tons per trip – and operates around the clock, making on average 40 trips daily to and covering 28 kilometers. A small fleet now moves dozens of pallets each day, freeing up manpower for more challenging work.

Beyond efficiency, the benefits are practical and measurable. Autonomous vehicles deliver consistent performance at roughly half the operating cost of traditional diesel trucks, with significant savings projected. Fully electric by design, each vehicle contributes to the reduction of  CO₂ emissions compared to a fossil-fuel based vehicles. This directly supports customers’ supply chain emissions- reduction targets. What’s more, advanced sensors and automatic obstacle avoidance strengthen safety in busy, high‑traffic warehouse zones.

Operationally, the shift is just as important for our teams. As routes become automated, colleagues move from supervising drivers to managing systems and data – building digital capabilities that will define future logistics roles.

Autonomous driving struggles in environments ruled by randomness, but logistics is often the opposite: Routes are known. Movements repeat. Safety rules are strict. Reliability matters more than speed. That combination makes logistics one of the most practical places for autonomy to scale responsibly. For our business, autonomous electric vehicles help address several pressures at once.

For one, it offers greater operational resilience in the face of fluctuating driver availability. By 2030, the US alone will be lacking around 160,000 truck drivers; in Europe some 745,000 driver roles will go unfilled by 2028 (source: mckinsey.com).

Another expected boon is safety: Sensor-based navigation systems reduce collision risk in low-speed, repetitive environments like warehouses, yards, and campus logistics (source: mdpi.com, nature.com).

Despite concerns to the contrary, autonomy is likely to reshape jobs rather than replace them, absorbing repetitive transport tasks while people focus on coordination, exception handling and continuous improvement.

For customers, the use of autonomous vehicles leads to higher reliability and the ability to scale faster. But in terms of day-to-day operations, the impact is largely invisible. And that’s exactly the point.

Today, what started as a startup pitch is now moving goods daily. In Singapore, our next steps with Zelostech involves expanding collaboration and testing how autonomous transport scales further within complex logistics ecosystems. Each step challenges not just the technology, but how seamlessly it integrates into real networks with real constraints.

Autonomous vehicles won’t redefine logistics overnight. But by taking over the invisible middle, they are quietly strengthening the foundations of how goods move. Sometimes, the most meaningful upgrades in logistics are the ones hardly anybody notices.