Truck Slow Down Could Speed Truck Platooning
Burney Simpson
Some heavy-duty truck makers are seeing a slowdown in North American sales just as platooning systems are getting closer to being road-ready.
Volvo this month predicted a decline of 14 percent in truck sales in North America and Brazil, according to Reuters. Germany’s Daimler sees a drop of 10 percent for class 6-8 trucks, while U.S. Paccar believes there will be a 12 percent drop for class 8 trucks.
The news comes as the American Trucking Associations trade group holds its meeting in Nashville.
The bad news may be tempered by technology that could lower fuel costs for operators.
Just last fall the Utah Department of Transportation was testing the truck-to-truck communications system from Peloton Technology.
The system allows trucks to connect, or platoon together, when they are about 50 feet apart.
Running this close together leads to better aerodynamics, and that leads to reduced fuel costs of 10 percent for the rear truck, and nearly 5 percent for the lead truck, Peloton reports.
The trucks travel safely due to direct communications that enable the rear truck to respond in kind as the front truck accelerates or brakes.
“We’ll have one truck driving ahead that is in complete control of the driving,” John Jacobs, a Peloton engineer, told the Desert News. “The rear vehicle uses a combination of sensors, including radar, high precision (global positioning satellites), a camera and two-way communications … to get a precise idea of the location of the front truck.”
Peloton also operates an operations center that monitors and shares local weather, vehicle, and traffic conditions with trucks participating in its system.
Peloton says a truck could save about $2,000 annually by using its system.
Peloton last month was named to the Global Cleantech 100 because of the promising impact of its technology. Peloton’s investors include Volvo, UPS, Denso, Intel, and Nokia.
MAJOR CHANGES COMING
The trucking industry sees major changes of this type on the horizon, according to a recent survey of company executives from Princeton Consulting, Trucking Info reports.
Princeton found that 28 percent of trucking leaders believe that autonomous trucks could have a medium or high impact on their industry in the next eight years.
This will happen in three phases, Princeton says.
First, the use of autopilot systems will expand in the heavy trucking. Second, platooning systems like that provided by Peloton will be operated on select highways. Eventually autonomous trucks will see widespread adoption on highways across the country.
Trucking executives also believe drones, a shift to Uber-style management by freight brokers, and greater use of data will all have major impacts on the industry, according to the survey.
Graphic by Linkoping Universitet.
