Platooning can be dangerous without proper management
Driving trucks in convoy, also known as platooning is used by lorry drivers to improve fuel efficiency. Drag is a considerable problem for all road users with even cyclists sometimes being seen riding behind each other to reduce drag. To improve fuel efficiency of vehicles an aerodynamic profile with a vehicle lower to the ground along with a smaller cross-section can be beneficial. This is why fuel-efficient cars such as a Prius are much lower to the ground while a box van will have challenges at higher speeds to be fuel efficient.
For trucks platooning is the only real option for improving fuel efficiency, and if done well can lead to a 12% better fuel efficiency. However even when there are lorries in platooning a road is seldom straight and level. As trucks need to drive the speed limit to be performant and have to deal with being ladened and un-ladened, acceleration up and down hills is much different between vehicles. As such lorries need to continually overtake one another and platooning trucks are seldom fuel efficient for the majority of a journey.
Manually platooning trucks is exceptionally dangerous, with sudden stops leading to large scale crashes and whole lanes blocked. This is typically due to not enough space being given between trucks for stopping, and this being different for loaded or unloaded trucks. Visibility is cut down considerably for trucks following another. Many cars crash into trucks due to sleep related deprivation and should this occur and the other drivers unaware or not paying attention to the road due to their own tiredness it is possible that even good stopping distances can still lead to a pileup of trucks and other road users.
The solution
This is where V2X comes into play to help optimize platooning trucks and increase fuel efficiency. Each truck will communicate with other trucks and regulate their speed and movements as part of the group. This will be controlled by new ITS control modules that will also work with any AI system within the truck to optimize performance. The great thing is that the same system can be used in other vehicles on the road, reducing the chance of crashes occurring between cars and lorries. If a truck tries to overtake when a motorcycle or car is in their blind spot or when they are tired both drivers are alerted by the ITS platform.
Platooning trucks is exceptionally important for a country’s productivity and improved GDP, in addition the larger the distance the greater the need for this method of driving. In some countries such as Australia ‘land trains’ are constructed of multiple trailers and one large lorry pulling all of the load; while this is convenient to reduce drag and increase productivity it can be problematic for built up areas and stops. A larger truck will also sink into dirt roads much more readily and a single point of failure for a delivery; insurance is also much more due to the high value cost of the rig. To improve this a company may decide to have smaller trucks that need to pull less and go to more locations much more easily. However, to keep them efficient a company could decide that over long distances they should move as one using platooning where possible. Trucks could be scheduled to meet at central depots and rest stops to improve this fuel efficiency. A smaller truck may be more fuel efficient than a larger truck that has to carry more fuel and thus more weight.
