Japan is planning to build an automated cargo transport corridor between Tokyo and Osaka, dubbed a conveyor belt road by the government, to make up for a shortage of truck drivers. The amount of funding for the project is not yet set. But it's seen as one key way to help the country cope with soaring deliveries. A computer graphics video made by the government shows big, wheeled boxes moving along a three-lane corridor, also called an auto flow road, in the middle of a big highway. A trial system is due to start test runs in 2027 or early 2028, aiming for full operations by the mid-2030s. We need to be innovative with the way we approach roads, said Yuri Endo, a senior deputy director overseeing the effort at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Apart from making up for a shrinking labour force and the need to reduce workloads for drivers, the system also will help cut carbon emissions, she said. The key concept of the auto flow-road is to create dedicated