These trucks weigh almost as much as a fully-loaded 747 jet — and no one's driving them
Suncor Energy Inc. is escalating the rollout of its massive 400-tonne capacity driverless trucks, a move the company says will cut costs and improve safety, but it's also expected to eliminate jobs.
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The company said Wednesday it plans to expand its autonomous fleet to 150 or more by the end of the year, up from just 20 trucks that were in operation in the spring of 2024.
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'All the expected benefits, safety, direct cost, productivity . . . we are on track to see or achieve all of those, or more than we would have hoped for,' Rich Kruger, Suncor's chief executive, said Wednesday during a conference call on the company's earnings.
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Despite 'ongoing commodity price volatility' this spring, Suncor managed to collect nearly $1.7 billion in profits, up by more than $100 million from the same time last year. The company has also set records for production in each quarter of the past year, and returned $1.45 billion to its shareholders in the latest stretch.
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When the Calgary-based company began rolling out its fleet of driverless trucks 2018, it said the move would eliminate 400 jobs overall, though Suncor also vowed to minimize the impact and retrain workers.
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Suncor said its driverless fleet is the largest of its kind in Canada, deploying the hulking vehicles to some of its oilsands mines.
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The company has seen some efficiency gains and improvement in productivity as a result, according to Peter Zebedee, an executive vice-president.
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'We really see this as a strategic move for us. It helps us to improve safety,' said Zebedee.
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Like other oil producers, Suncor is dealing with an uncertain economic backdrop. Oil prices ranged widely in a short window, averaging US$63.70 per barrel for the second quarter, a near US$8 dip from earlier in the year.
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