Heavy Duty Trucking, June 2018

JUNE 2018 HDT 77 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM Volvo Currently most of Volvos truck platooning activities have been centered in Europe but here in North America Volvo has been quietly working on its platooning capabilities as well Last year the company announced the completion of successful tests involving three VNL tractor trailers traveling at 55 mph on Interstate 110 in California at 50 foot intervals Volvo engineers worked closely with Peloton on that project Volvo says it is continuing to develop truck platooning systems and hints that more news is likely to come later this year The federal government and research agencies are involved in truck platooning as well For instance last fall the Federal Highway Administration worked with the Virginia State Police for a demonstration of a three truck platoon on an 8 mile course on a state highway And north of the border PIT Group the research and engineering branch of FPInnovations last summer worked with Transport Canada on its Cooperative Truck Platooning Systems testing program at the Motor Vehicle Test Centre in Blainville Quebec And Paccars DAF Trucks is participating in a two year truck platooning trial in the UK led by the UKs Transport Research Laboratory and working with TNO Ricardo and logistics company DHL Tesla Tesla Motors announced last November at the public unveiling of its Semi electric truck that Autopilot and platooning capability would be standard features on the vehicle when it enters production next year The remarks by Tesla CEO Elon Musk raised eyebrows in the room since the usual argument for truck platooning is rooted in boosting fuel economy and electric trucks dont burn diesel or gasoline However Musk noted that electric trucks are subject to the same physics as those with internal combustion engines The easier it is for an electric truck to move through the air the less hard its electric drive motors have to work and the less energy is drained from the vehicles battery systems to power them Musk went on to say that according to Tesla calculations a single Tesla Semi truck would cost around 126 per mile to operate but that in a platooning scenario that cost would drop to 85 cents per mile and be competitive with rail in terms of moving goods News reports late last summer ahead of the trucks public showcase revealed that Tesla had been in discussions with Nevada on testing electric trucks in platooning operations ber of units with logistics giant DB Schenker for months of evaluation in revenue service Drivers received specialized training including using simulators before hitting the road in April where they were to be evaluated as part of DB Schenkers scheduled operations in actual traffic on the A9 freeway that runs between Munich and Nuremberg in Germany Peloton Arguably the early leader in platooning technology in North America Peloton Technologies recently confirmed that it is still on track to meet its previously announced goal of having its two truck platooning technology in real world use by fleets before the end of this year Peloton says it is in the process of negotiating with many of the top long haul fleets in North America as it fine tunes its system in preparation for full integration with OEM vehicle control systems as well as with systems provided by outside suppliers such as Bendix Eaton or Cummins Peloton announced a partnership with Omnitracs in February which will make Pelotons truck platooning technology available to Omnitracs telematics fleet customers The two companies also will jointly develop technology to further integrate their vehicle safety and operational systems Peterbilt Paccars Peterbilt division has been quietly working with Peloton and other platooning technology developers To date most of the companys efforts appear to be focused on upgrading its own vehicle systems and electronic controls to fully integrate with platooning systems But Peterbilt garnered some recent headlines as well when it participated in a series of platooning tests with Auburn University in Alabama and the U S Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center TARDEC with two Peterbilt Model 579 tractor trailers leading mixed convoys of military vehicles on Interstate 69 in Michigan The goal of the test was to determine the safety efficiency fuel economy and viability of running military convoys in platoon formations on public roadways In the UK DAF Trucks has been working on truck platooning technology since early 2015 DAF test drivers have driven tens of thousands of miles on public roads and test tracks See video of truck platooning in action at www truckinginfo com platooningvideo BONUS PHOTO DAF TRUCKS