Clips showing driverless delivery vans in China pushing through roadworks, rough streets and traffic obstacles have gone viral online, turning the autonomous vehicles into a bit of a meme.
The videos show multiple examples of the unmanned vans getting stuck on broken roads, driving straight through fresh concrete (despite workmen’s attempts to stop it), struggling over uneven surfaces and even continuing to move with a motorcycle lodged under a wheel arch.
In each clip, the vehicle appears to keep driving despite the obstruction.
The footage has been widely shared on social media, with captions joking that “nothing stops them,” as viewers point out the vans’ apparent inability to react to unexpected situations.
The vehicles seen in the clips are part of China’s rapidly expanding autonomous delivery network. Major logistics companies have been rolling out self-driving vans in cities and rural areas as part of efforts to automate last-mile delivery.
Chinese courier firms, including ZTO Express and J&T Express, have deployed thousands of driverless delivery vehicles over the past two years, according to state and industry reports.
These vans are typically used on fixed routes between delivery hubs and neighborhood drop-off points, often traveling at low speeds and monitored remotely by human operators.
Most of the vehicles rely on cameras, radar and pre-mapped routes rather than full self-driving systems. Operators can intervene remotely if the van encounters an issue, though the viral clips suggest some situations still result in errors or delays.
China has encouraged autonomous delivery as part of broader logistics automation, particularly in areas facing labor shortages or high delivery demand.
The clips circulating online were not accompanied by official statements from the companies operating the vehicles, and it remains unclear whether the incidents caused damage or required manual recovery.
