Autonomous truck platoons offer benefits that might not be immediately apparent to the average road-tripper.
Two or more semis following each other at a distance of 40 to 60 feet can seem like they're operated by thrill-seeking drivers, but the real thrill-seekers are the trucking companies, which are looking for a high-tech way to save fuel and, at the same time, combat a rising problem: a shortage of truck drivers.
The U.S. is expected to have a shortage of 176,000 truckers by 2026, according to Rod McLane, vice president of marketing for Peloton Technology, a Silicon Valley company focused on automated technology for freight hauling.
Platooning allows digitally connected trucks to save fuel by driving close together in a convoy.
In December 2018, a McKinsey study predicted that any platooning solution that allows trucks to operate without a driver in the second truck would not hit roads until 2022, with full driverless trucks not arriving until 2027 or later.
Peloton's connection
Peloton won't say exactly when its single-driver platoon will be ready, but the company is establishing the building blocks with two related solutions that it says will allow fewer drivers to carry more goods while also using less fuel.
The first is PlatoonPro, a Level 1 driver-assist automated safety technology for commercial trucks available now in limited situations.
PlatoonPro connects two trucks at a time so that they can accelerate and brake together. The system requires both drivers to steer, and the drivers are in control of when they start and stop platooning. The system requires vehicle-to-vehicle communication to be installed in both trucks, as well as a radar-based collision avoidance system, air disc brakes on the tractor and antilock brakes on the trailer.
The tractors also need nonmetallic mirrors, because Peloton installs dedicated short-range communications antennas there. Metallic surfaces interfere with the short-range signals.
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Drivers can engage the system on multilane, divided highways that have been approved by Peloton. Decent weather and light traffic are also required for the technology to work. Despite these restrictions, Peloton has already tested platooning trucks for over 100,000 miles.
Peloton says the system offers overall fuel savings of 7 percent, with the lead truck improving 4.5 percent and the following truck by 10 percent. Installing PlatoonPro hardware on a truck costs $2,900, McLane said.
Peloton's technology allows a truck to either lead or follow and even switch positions during a drive. McLane said this will benefit truckers from different fleets when they platoon, with each spending half of the time in the lead position so both get maximum fuel economy.
The company's Level 4 platooning technology will have an even bigger impact, McLane said, including cutting labor expenses in half. With that technology, the second truck in a platoon is fully automated and driverless, and the driver in the first truck controls both as they cruise down the highway. This technology "harnesses the world's best sensor: humans," McLane said, and it can be deployed sooner rather than later since there is still a driver leading the convoy.
Automakers on board
Peloton is not the only company working on truck platooning.
Tesla is considering testing platooning prototypes in Nevada, according to Reuters.
Daimler has tested platooning in the U.S., Europe and Japan for years. However, according to TruckingInfo, Martin Daum, head of Daimler's trucks and buses divisions, said at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in 2018 that platooning may never go into production.
Volvo Trucks and FedEx tested three Volvo VNL tractors, each pulling two 28-foot trailers, in a platoon on a highway in North Carolina in 2018. Volvo Group has also tested platooning in Europe, logging more than 50,000 miles.
These tests proved that platooning is viable and attractive to shipping companies, said Johan Larsson, director of autonomous solutions for Volvo Trucks North America. The trucks were driven by humans, but the platooning distance for the follow trucks was automated and controlled by V2V technology.
Volvo Group made autonomous trucking announcements with both Nvidia and Perceptive Automata in June, bringing in more AI technology to self-driving truck tests. Larsson said that while platooning "normal trucks" — i.e., with a driver in each truck in the platoon or at least in the lead truck — is promising, platooning with autonomous trucks is on Volvo's radar.
"When you have autonomous trucks, why not platoon?" he said.
