As well as demonstrating the scope of Daimler's own autonomous tech, the road trip is a part of the European Truck Platooning Challenge that aims to hasten the appearance of automated platoons on Europe's roads.

Introduced by the Netherlands during its presidency of the European Union, the European Truck Platooning Challenge aims to facilitate the progression of autonomous truck platooning due to its potential to reduce congestion, cut down on accidents caused by human error and make significant cuts to the amount of CO2 emitted by trucks on the road.

Taking part in this Challenge, the trucks undertaking the Germany to Netherlands road trip are all linked via Wi-Fi and rely on Daimler's Connected Highway Pilot system. Unlike regular trucks, which need to leave a 50-meter (164-ft) gap, autonomously controlled truck platoons can sit just 15 m (49 ft) apart. That means a convoy of autonomous trucks takes up just 80 m (262 ft) of highway space, as opposed to 150 m (492 ft) for a normal convoy of trucks under human control.