Truck Platooning is the future of transportation in which trucks drive cooperatively at less than 1 second apart made possible by automated driving technology. Transportation companies benefit from lower fuel consumption and improvements in (driver) productivity, while society benefits from fewer accidents, safer traffic and less congested roads, and lower carbon emissions.
In this whitepaper, TNO explains what platooning is, what kind of benefits it brings for which parties in the supply chain, and how the roadmap looks like towards deployment of platooning on Dutch and European roads. Developments in the underlying Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) technology have been ongoing for years, yet wide-scale deployment of truck platooning is a system-wide innovation challenge that requires a concerted approach of all stakeholders in society.
Right now the political and economic climate is positive for a broad deployment of platooning as initial legislation amendments are proposed to allow testing and experimentation on Dutch roads. For this system-wide innovation, TNO suggests to establish an Shared Research Programme, based on open innovation principles. In the programme, partners can jointly work towards commercial deployment of platooning to implement a safe, reliable and efficient two-truck platooning concept by 2020.
Original source: TNO
