Commercial Truck Platooning – Level 2 Automation: Project Summary

Details

• Alternative Title:
  0-6836: Commercial Truck Platooning - Level 2 Automation: Project Summary
• Creators:
  Kuhn, Beverly ; Poorsartep, Mo
• Corporate Creators:
  Texas A&M Transportation Institute
• Contributors:
  Lukuc, Mike ; Wagner, Jason ; Balke, Kevin ; Middleton, Dan ; Songchitruksa, Praprut ; Wood, Nick
• Corporate Contributors:
  Texas. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Technology Implementation Office ; United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Advanced Vehicle Control Systems Commercial Vehicles Traffic Platooning
• Publication/ Report Number:
  0-6836
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States;Texas
• Corporate Publisher:
  Texas A&M Transportation Institute
• Abstract:
  Besides driver compensation, the largest operating expense for a line-haul truck is the cost of fuel. At 65 mph, each truck expends about 65 percent of its fuel consumption to overcome the effects of aerodynamic drag. Many of the large and small fleet operators are currently using a variety of different techniques and technologies to achieve a 1 or 2 percent fuel efficiency gain. However, research suggests that platooning technology can provide a 5 to 20 percent fuel savings, depending on the gap, speed, number of vehicles, and location of a vehicle within a platoon. Platooning also offers other benefits, such as emission reduction, additional vehicle safety features, and increased highway throughput, just to name a few. Level 2 truck platooning is an extension of cooperative adaptive cruise control that uses automated lateral and longitudinal vehicle control, while maintaining a tight formation of vehicles with short following distances. A platoon is led by a manually driven truck and allows the drivers of the following truck(s) to disengage from their driving tasks and monitor the system performance. Driving in a platoon formation has demonstrated the potential for significant fuel savings benefits and associated reductions in emissions from the vehicles within the platoon. Through this project, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) funded the creation of a comprehensive truck platooning demonstration in Texas. The focus was on the feasibility of deploying two-vehicle truck platoons on specific corridors in Texas within 5 to 10 years. The project brought together major partners, including government agencies, national labs, truck manufacturers, and equipment suppliers, all of which have committed resources in terms of in-kind matching of equipment, engineering services, and intellectual property.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection Autonomous Vehicles
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:db2c609d74af4dde48d14510b0e3196664f24a30a530857170a5e5b0781878bb888a9350a66fed84a8e5730d712c34a1634b1aa3ce6d5b66fe0f46fbed56ed09
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/32371/dot_32371_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 493.78 KB ]