Networked convoys
Autonomous trucks in everyday operation on the A9
Autonomous trucks from DB subsidiary Schenker are currently on the A9 highway between Munich and Nuremberg with loads. Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer is convinced that this will make transportation safer, more efficient and more environmentally friendly.
Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer, MAN CEO Joachim Drees and Deutsche Bahn board members Alexander Doll and Sabina Jeschke gave the go-ahead for the "world's first practical use of networked truck convoys" in Neufahrn near Munich on June 25, 2018.
By the end of 2019, two trucks with trailers will be driving just 15 meters apart on the freeway instead of the 50 meters prescribed for normal trucks. The truck in front will be driven by a driver, the one behind by a computer. Driving in the slipstream saves 10% fuel, i.e. three liters of diesel per 100 km, said DB board member Alexander Doll. "Digitalization must benefit the customer, it is not an end in itself."
At the same time, the convoy saves space on the overcrowded highway: instead of 90 m, the two road trains together would only need 40 m in length, said Doll. The vehicles are also safer on the road: a human driver would only react after a second of shock, whereas the computer would react within milliseconds. As a precaution, there is also a driver in the autonomously following truck who can intervene at any time.
In 2016, truck manufacturers Daimler, MAN, Scania, Volvo, DAF and Iveco sent six autonomously driving truck convoys from several countries to Rotterdam in a one-off rally. Drees said that the challenge was to have different truck brands drive in a joint convoy. So far, there is no standardized coupling. A payment model for convoys with trucks from different hauliers also needs to be developed. Fuel costs and driver time are only saved by the trucks that follow autonomously.
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