In a landmark agreement between Volvo Trucks and Norwegian mining company Brønnøy Kalk AS, six autonomous Volvo FH trucks will transport limestone from the mine to a crusher over 5km away.

The company has already tested the service, and full operations will commence by late 2019. It’s not the first time that Volvo Trucks’ autonomous vehicles have been used for this type of industrial application, but this is a first for how they are being supplied.

While Volvo Trucks has previously sold the vehicles to the company in question, this agreement is for the specific service carried out, with ownership of the vehicles remaining with the manufacturer. Brønnøy Kalk has purchased a service, not a vehicle, and pays per tonne delivered.

Under this new solution, the customer buys a transport service where Volvo Trucks takes full responsibility for the delivery of the limestone to the crusher.