Autonomous Tech: How the supply chain is going hands-free
Platoons, fall in
The concept of “platooning,” as seen in the European project, comes from the old trucker’s trick of following closely behind another 18-wheeler to help reduce drag at highway speeds and thus save on fuel – sometimes as much as 20 percent. This practice, however, also known as “drafting,” is risky because if the lead truck has to stop short for any reason, the driver following has very little time to react and could cause a collision.
This is where today’s technology steps in. By using a combination of radar, cameras and other sensory technology, the autonomous truck can sense exactly where it is in relation to other trucks on road. Once this sensory data from all of the following trucks are linked together with the cruise control systems and the lead computer in the truck at the front of the convoy, a constant speed and distance can be maintained. Braking systems can also be linked together to ensure that any sudden stops or maneuvers made by the lead truck will be relayed instantly to the others.
For the last several years, European truck manufacturers – such as Scania, Volvo, Daimler, MAN, Iveco and Renault – have been perfecting theses platooning vehicles and are now conducting several road tests to prove the technology works. Reports from Scania’s research have demonstrated that platoon driving can reduce fuel consumption by as much as 12 percent.
While these various truck systems can operate completely autonomously, it’s important to note they all still are designed for a human driver to sit in the cab and watch over the various sensors and take over manually, if something goes wrong. That’s why many autonomous vehicles are sometimes referred to as being “optionally driven.”
The key to understanding the inevitability of these technologies is to look at them in actuarial terms, said Grant Goldsmith, vice president, business development, at Avalon Risk Management. “If you look at the accidents of trucking, a lot of it comes from following too close, or changing lanes at the wrong time – that’s got to be 10 to 20 percent of the accidents right there,” he said. “That’s significant.”
When it comes to trucks, nine out of ten accidents are caused by human error, said Denis Niezgoda, project manager, DHL Trend Research, for Deutsche Post DHL Group. “Our aim is to look into driverless trucks to increase safety of our own workers,” he said. “We don’t believe that trucks will be driving fully autonomously for another 20 or 30 years. But we’ll definitely be able to assist our drivers by taking over specific tasks. It’s already being done today.”
