The Netherlands is going to play a role in several areas in new tests on platooning, an advancing technology in the trucking world. Truck manufacturer DAF is to participate in a large-scale test in England while the port of Rotterdam will also be a testing ground.
Platooning stands for convoy driving of trucks. The trucks are electronically linked together. Only the front truck contains a driver, who sets the pace and route. The trucks behind follow automatically.
Truck platooning was devised to increase traffic flow. Currently, many trucks still drive at uneven speeds, regularly causing congestion. Driving trucks closer together should also save fuel and reduce CO2 emissions.
DAF Trucks
Platooning is already receiving due attention in the Netherlands. For instance, DAF Trucks recently announced that it is taking part in a large-scale test in England. This test will last two years and will be led by the UK's Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). DAF Trucks, together with its partners, TNO, Ricardo PLC and logistics provider DHL, has been selected by the UK Department for Transport to work with Highways England to gain experience with truck platooning on selected routes on the UK main road network. The first platooning DAF test trucks are already scheduled for trials in the UK in the coming months.
With the truck platooning trial, the UK government wants to gain more experience with this new innovation that could bring more efficiency to road transport. The press release explains that in truck platooning, highly advanced Wifi-P, radar and cameras allow two wirelessly connected trucks to drive close behind each other. By using the information from the front truck, the platooning trucks behind it can automatically accelerate, brake and even steer.
Road safety
During platooning, if the front vehicle brakes, the following vehicles do the same without any noticeable reaction delay. This should ensure more safety on the road. This allows for optimal distance between the trucks which, due to the resulting slipstream, enables fuel savings of up to 10 per cent with the corresponding reduction in CO2 emissions. Another advantage of truck platooning is the improved traffic flow because platooning trucks do not overtake each other. According to DAF Trucks, the driver assistance systems that make platooning possible are always alert; they react 25 times faster than a top sportsman can.
Technical opportunities
"DAF is honoured to contribute for the UK government to the TRL-led field test with three platooning trucks," says Ron Borsboom, member of the board of directors and responsible for product development at DAF Trucks. "These trials will enrich our knowledge and understanding of the benefits platooning can offer while at the same time supporting the UK Department for Transport by providing evidence of how platooning improves efficiency in transport. But let me be clear. We still have a lot of technical development ahead of us before we will be able to actually offer platooning to the market. That does not alter the fact that this trial is an important and necessary step we need to take," Borsboom said.
On top of that, Borsboom adds that there is also a lot to be evaluated in terms of regulations, liability and public acceptance of platooning. "It is therefore to the UK government's credit that they are now taking this important and valuable initiative."
Role of driver
"Truck platooning does not replace a driver," Borsbooms argues. "Every truck requires a man or woman in the cab. On secondary roads and in urban environments, a driver needs to be in control of the vehicle. Truck platooning is mainly meant as an efficient solution for long distances on main and highways. But even then, drivers will still need to be trained to take control of the vehicle when necessary and perform other work-related tasks. Truck platooning is not the beginning of the end of the truck driving profession. It relieves the workload of the person behind the wheel. Traffic is getting busier and busier, demanding more and more from the driver. Intelligent systems like truck platooning are going to help the driver deal with these challenges."
Port of Rotterdam
The port of Rotterdam is also going to play a role in the further rollout of platooning. It will be a kind of European practice area for the technology, designated by the European Commission. The Rotterdam and The Hague Metropolitan Region lobbied for this, as the authority sees great potential in platooning. Eurofiber is the initiator of the project. "A scheduled service can be set up from the port of Rotterdam to fixed destinations. Platooning also has possibilities for the Westland region, as flowers can be transported from the greenhouses there in truck trains to Schiphol Airport and Aalsmeer," says Eurofiber's Harold Smeeman. Among other things, the test route should show what impact platooning has on other road users. For example, it will be examined whether and how other road users can merge in and out when a truck platoon passes (something DAF Trucks says is possible even if the platooning trucks are crossed over). "We still have to find out what it will all mean," Harold Smeeman of Eurofiber, initiator of the project, told the AD. "Perhaps platooning is best done in the evening and at night. Then we do get a lot of truck traffic off the road during the day."
Germany has also announced major platooning tests.
By: Kelly Bakker
Source: DAF/AD.nl
Photo: DAF Trucks N.V.
