An Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) project conducted by FHWA and Auburn University.
Nationwide, United States
Heavy Truck Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control: Evaluation, Testing, and Stakeholder Engagement for Near Term Deployment: Phase Two Final Report
Summary Information
This report covers the second part of a two-phase investigation conducted by FHWA and Auburn University to engage industry and evaluate key questions that need to be answered prior to market introduction of heavy truck Driver Assistive Truck Platooning (DATP) applications. Project partners included Auburn University (lead), Peloton Technology, Peterbilt Trucks, Meritor-WABCO, and the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).
DATP takes advantage of the increasing maturity of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, plus widespread deployment of DSRC-based V2V connectivity. Activities conducted from 2013 to 2017 included a business case analysis, performance testing, aerodynamics modeling, wireless communications evaluations, platoon formation assessment, traffic modeling to assess on-road effects, and system demonstrations.
- Business case analyses concluded that large, for-hire, over-the-road (OTR) truckload (TL) and less-than-truckload (LTL) line-haul fleets and private fleets are best positioned as early adopters of DATP.
- Aerodynamic simulations indicated that following vehicles can experience large amounts of drag reduction and improve fuel economy, even at following distances of greater than 100 feet. At closer following distances within the margin of safety for a DATP system, lead vehicles can reduce drag and improve fuel economy as well.
- Platoon formation models developed from truck movement field data showed platoon formation of 30-45 percent in one dataset, with those trucks remaining platooned for between 55-75 percent of a 300-mile road segment.
- Traffic modeling results showed that DATP caused no delays to the overall freeway traffic stream compared to existing conditions.
- In a tractor-trailer field test, trial distances of 30, 40, 50, 75, and 150 feet between the lead truck and following trucks—all equipped with aerodynamic body panels and operating at 60 miles per hour—showed that peak two-truck team fuel savings were found at 6.96 percent, when the following distance was 30 feet, and at 10.24 percent, when the distance was 50 feet.
