Heavy Duty Trucking, June 2018
reap a fuel savings benefit as a concept back in 2011 We saw our first demo of such a system in 2014 Reports are surfacing increasingly of tests being run on public roads and test tracks both here and overseas and it appears real world Class 8 platooning systems are likely to be showcased starting later this year Naysayers and skeptics abound when it comes to platooning technology Many industry observers and fleet executives are concerned about the stress and or boredom levels for drivers running trucks in a close following configuration at highway speeds Others worry that the drivers or the vehicles will not be able to identify and react to dangerous road conditions in a timely manner or that passenger cars will be able to pull in between platooning trucks and create chaos Other questions that must be resolved include details on how trucks enter and leave platoons which truck gets the benefit of being the following truck with greater fuel economy benefits and whether competing carriers will be willing to cooperate in truck platoons Platooning proponents have quietly defended this emerging technology and insist that a platoon of trucks will be as safe perhaps safer than any other vehicle on the road and that the impact on drivers in he kind of fuel economy benefits possible with truck platooning would be impossible to obtain using any other type of technology available to the trucking industry today contends Mike Roeth executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency which has investigated the potential fuel saving benefits of truck platooning HDT first reported on truck platooning in which trucks use technology that allow them to follow each other closely enough to TRUCK PLATOONS Real world deployment of truck platooning systems appears close but developers arent keen to offer many details on their efforts By Jack Roberts Senior Editor jroberts@ truckinginfo com HDT JUNE 2018 74 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM T News reports indicate that a transition from test tracks to real world operation on public roads is coming soon for truck platooning technology ON THE HORIZON PHOTO PELOTON
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