FHWA Research and Technology Evaluation: Truck Platooning

This report assesses how the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA’s) investment in truck-platooning research affected truck platooning knowledge, the availability and quality of data, and the deployment of truck platooning technology. The research projects reviewed in this report are the “Partial Automation for Truck Platooning” (PATP) and “Driver-Assistive Truck Platooning” (DATP). The focus of the PATP and DATP projects was to decrease the costs of freight travel by improving fuel efficiency and highway mobility and allowing long-haul trucks to travel together as efficiently as possible. Although it was difficult to measure the effects of specific FHWA activities, the Research and Technology Evaluation project team found the research output from PATP and DATP addressed previously identified research gaps, influenced stakeholders’ overall technology awareness and knowledge of truck-platooning technology, and led the way for follow-on research. All interviewees agreed the benefits outweighed the costs and all but one—who was unsure—had a positive impression of qualitative return on investment. Having project partners commit to cost sharing showed potential payback for project partners, while research output from the PATP and DATP projects showed that truck platooning was a viable option to help increase fuel efficiency among two- and three-truck platoons.

• Record URL:
  https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/randt/evaluations/20071/20071.pdf
• Summary URL:
  https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/randt/evaluations/20071/index.cfm
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/57272
• Corporate Authors:

  Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

  Cambridge, MA  United States  02142

  Federal Highway Administration

  Office of Corporate Research, Technology, and Innovation Management
  6300 Georgetown Pike
  McLean, VA  United States  22101
• Authors:
  • Foreman, Christina
  • 0000-0002-0648-5622
  • Keen, Matthew
  • 0000-0002-3032-9435
  • Petrella, Margaret
  • Plotnick, Sarah
• Publication Date: 2021-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 78p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Autonomous vehicles; Fuel conservation; Research projects; Traffic platooning; Truck traffic
• Subject Areas: Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management; Research; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01778998
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-HRT-20-071, OST-R V-321
• Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Aug 12 2021 4:57PM