Canada unpacks the myriad of factors behind platoon optimisation

Truck platooning promises significant efficiency benefits for fleets, but the hows and whys are still under investigation. Everything from the number of vehicles and their specific placement in the platoon to the gaps between them and the combination of cab and trailer design can all make significant changes to the sort of fuel savings realised by operators.

In Canada a multi-party test programme into platooning brought together the forces of The National Research Council Canada (NRC); Transport Canada; the US Federal Highway Administration; California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology (PATH) at the University of California, Berkeley; California Department of Transportation (Caltrans); Volvo Trucks; FPInnovations PIT Group and PMG Technologies. The project evaluated a three-truck platooning system developed by Berkley. "We brought it up to Canada and tested it on Transport Canada's test track to look at the potential for fuel efficiency savings," explained NRC’s Brian McAuliffe, Programme Manager, Bluff Body Aerodynamics, Aerospace.