Creating a sustainable supply chain is critical for reducing carbon emissions and creating a sustainable future. Aside from reducing consumption and localized resources, operating an efficient fleet of vehicles can significantly reduce emissions from the transportation sector. Two promising technologies being developed today will help us realize those goals; electric vehicles and truck platooning. A report from SAFE projects yearly savings by 2050 of 20 billion gallons of diesel fuel per year (assuming utilization of platooning technology rises to 50% of heavy duty vehicle miles traveled, while yielding a 7% net gain in fuel efficiency).
Adopting these technologies is not without it's risks and we sought to lay the groundwork for discovering where, and under what situations, platooning can be utilized. We propose building a platooning index that communicates to the public, trucking companies, and city/state/federal governments acceptable platooning corridors based on current conditions. We are very early in our research and will simply describe the factors that we currently understand affect platooning and provide a basic visualization.
- Infrastructure type & conditions Certain infrastructure (bridges) may not be capable of allowing trucks to operate closely without severe damage and thus, may need to extend their following distances. Some bridges may have steel structures supporting them and dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) between vehicles could fail. Mapping these infrastructure would be critical to advance platooning safely.
- Steep grades Trucking in the mountains is always a challenge and rising pitches may force longer following distances for safe operation. Couple grade with load and the problem becomes even more tricky.
- Weather conditions Heavy-duty vehicles are acutely affected by high-wind conditions, communicating these conditions to an operating platoon would be necessary.
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