HGV Truck & Semi Trailer Platooning - likely to happen?
In-depth blog article on truck trailer platooning, discussing if technology-enabled convoys are likely to appear on public roads, perhaps easing the driver shortage.
Truck driver occupation. Woman sitting in truck vehicle. Transportation service.[/caption]
While the hybridisation and eventual full electrification of truck tractor units and rigid vehicles of various sizes is inevitable, with primary manufacturers launching plug-in or solely electric trucks this year onwards, another landmark advancement is simultaneously being worked on – platooning. But is the arrival of road transport platoons a foregone conclusion or might various factors eventually see it taken off the agenda?
From addressing what platooning is, when it started being mooted in commercial vehicle circles, and which companies have been and still are pioneering the technology, to its potential benefits, criticisms and viabilities, and the technologies that lie behind it all, we discuss whether truck platooning is likely to become a road transport reality.
The ACEA 2017 whitepaper entitled ‘What is truck platooning?’1 sums it up fairly well, explaining that it is “the linking of two or more trucks in convoy” where they “automatically maintain a set, close distance between each other when they are connected for certain parts of a journey, for instance on motorways.” However, its definition explicitly states that platooning uses “connectivity technology and automated driving support systems”, which isn’t always the case, as we shall go on to explore.
Paraphrasing the remainder of the ACEA’s fundamental definition, the truck at the front of the platoon acts as the leader, while the drivers of the vehicles following behind it, which will be of very similar form and size, maintain the same speed and copy the lead unit’s lane changes and other driving behaviours. Autonomous versions of follower vehicles are sometimes referred to as ‘drones’ – not to be mistaken for the ones that fly and are typically used for aerial filming, or indeed for human-driven trucks.
