Port of Antwerp-Bruges will launch its first commercial autonomous-truck pilot in the Antwerp port area this autumn with Inceptio Technology and Group-GTS.
The truck will transport containers around the clock between Group-GTS’s depot in Kallo on the Left Bank and several container terminals on the Right Bank. Inceptio Technology will supply the autonomous driving system.
The pilot will examine the operational requirements for integrating autonomous trucks into regular logistics services, including their potential deployment at greater scale. The port announced the project on September 15 but did not specify a start date beyond autumn 2026.
A later phase could extend the project towards North Sea Port and Rotterdam. That expansion is not part of the initial Antwerp operation.
The commercial pilot follows a 2025 demonstration involving a cable-less heavy-duty truck supplied by Swedish technology company Einride. Port of Antwerp-Bruges described that event as the first time in Belgium that a heavy-duty truck operated entirely autonomously on a public road.
The new project will use an Inceptio-equipped vehicle for recurring container movements between an operating depot and multiple terminals. It will test autonomous technology as part of a commercial logistics service, rather than in a single public-road demonstration.
“Today we are shifting up a gear, with more players, more applications and, above all, the move towards commercial deployment,” said Johan Klaps, Antwerp alderman and chairman of Port of Antwerp-Bruges.
Klaps said additional container capacity would require new infrastructure as well as more efficient use of existing assets. The port expects autonomous vehicles to support continuous operations and help address driver shortages, while improving transport efficiency and safety.
The project was announced during the second Autonomous Summit, held during Port of the Future Week in Antwerp and Rotterdam from September 15 to 17. The program includes demonstrations of autonomous trucks, a remotely operated train, an inland vessel and other transport systems.
Jean-Luc Crucke, Belgium’s Federal Minister of Mobility, Climate and Ecological Transition, said testing must be accompanied by coordinated regulation. Belgium is working with neighboring countries through the Benelux initiative to develop a harmonized legal framework for autonomous transport, he said.
Ports provide controlled settings for early autonomous operations because many cargo flows follow fixed routes amid high traffic volumes. The Antwerp pilot will test that model through continuous container movements across the port before any wider corridor deployment.