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Truck platoons have the potential to achieve major fuel savings and make the road network safer, these and other benefits are being tested in real world conditions by two new projects.
Swedish truck manufacturer Scania has been selected to design the world’s first full-scale autonomous truck platooning operations in Singapore.
The platoons will travel on public roads while carrying containers between port terminals in the country.
With the vehicle population in Singapore approaching one million, the initiative seeks to address the increasing travel demand and land constraints; 12% of Singapore’s total land mass is used for road and land transport infrastructure. Additionally, it faces a shortage of drivers.
As a result, the country’s government has been at the forefront of developing new autonomous vehicle technology, testing autonomous cars, taxis, utility vehicles and buses. It has been established as a test bed for new vehicle concepts that will increase productivity, road safety, optimise road capacity and enable new kinds of mobility.
Living laboratory
The multi-year truck platooning project, organised by the Singapore’s Ministry of Transport and the Port of Singapore Authority, will also involve Toyota. The aim is to organise convoys of four trucks – with the following three trucks behind the lead truck autonomously driven, as well as to fully automate the processes for precise docking and undocking of cargo.
The trials will take place in two phases: the first phase will focus on designing, testing and refining the truck platooning technology to adapt to local conditions. These will be conducted by Scania and Toyota at their respective research centres in Sweden and Japan, to leverage their existing development work. The second phase will consist of local trials and development of the technology in Singapore.
Claes Erixon, head of research and development at Scania, says: “Autonomous vehicles and platooning are cornerstones of future sustainable transport systems. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate our leadership and technology in this new exciting area.”
Pang Kin Keong, permanent secretary for transport and chairman of the Committee on Autonomous Road Transport in Singapore, adds: “Trucking as we know it today is a highly labour-intensive industry. We face a shortage of truck drivers. In this regard, truck platooning technology presents us with an opportunity to boost productivity in both the port sector and the trucking industry. It will also open up opportunities for truck drivers to take on higher-skilled roles as fleet operators and managers.”
Project Companion
Scania has recently been engaged as the lead partner in the €5.4 million European research project Companion, which has developed systems for implementing truck platooning technology on roads.
The truck manufacturer is currently working on enhancing wireless communication between heavy vehicles, which will allow the distances between vehicles to be safely reduced, reducing drag and lowering fuel consumption. To this end, Scania has teamed up with communications technology specialist Ericsson, who will contribute expertise in 5G technology, as well as in software and services.
Meanwhile, German commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN and logistics specialist DB Schenker are also forging a platooning partnership. Its purpose is to test platooning under realistic conditions over an extended period of time to gain meaningful data.
For this purpose, a truck platoon is to travel on the A9 motorway between Munich and Nuremberg from 2018. In the ensuing step, the platoon is to be used at DB Schenker's facility in Nuremberg.
Joachim Drees, chairman of the executive board of MAN Truck & Bus, explains: "Platooning offers clear advantages in terms of fuel consumption and a reduced risk of accidents. The tests performed to date have shown this. Now we want to work with DB Schenker to demonstrate what platooning is capable of in real-life conditions."