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Aug 12, 2017

ELECTRIC TRUCKS PLATOONING * USA: Tests in Nevada roads

* California - Tesla developing self-driving tech for semi-truck, wants to test in Nevada


--- Tesla Inc is developing a long-haul, electric semi-truck that can drive itself and move in "platoons" that automatically follow a lead vehicle, and is getting closer to testing a prototype, according to an email discussion of potential road tests between the car company and the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)... Meanwhile, California officials are meeting with Tesla on Wednesday "to talk about Tesla's efforts with autonomous trucks," state DMV spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez told... The correspondence and meeting show that Tesla is putting self-driving technology into the electric truck it has said it plans to unveil in September, and is advancing toward real-life tests, potentially moving it forward in a highly competitive area of commercial transport also being pursued by Uber Technologies Inc and Alphabet Inc's Waymo... 
(Photo; Self-driving trucks European, Trucks platooning challenge)   --  San Francisco, CAL, USA - Reuters, by Marc Vartabedian - Aug 9, 2017

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Jun 26, 2017

DB Schenker & MAN * Europe: Testing traffic "platoon" trucks

* Essen - DB Schenker and Man Truck & Bus to test convoy traffic

--- DB Schenker and Man Truck & Bus will test the technology of "platooning" or traffic in convoy. A technique that relies on the suction effect and saves up to 10 % fuel. Both companies expect to start testing in the spring of 2018... Each convoy will consist of two trucks that will run empty at first, connected to each other through electronic "drawbars". At this stage, driving conditions and training of drivers in the operation of vehicles and their specific driving techniques will be scrutinized... From weekly to daily trials, the tests will be transformed into trips under actual transport conditions with convoys running between the logistics centers of Munich and Nuremberg up to 3 times a day... They will determine the data to be transmitted to the manufacturer and logisticians in order to obtain optimum monitoring of the convoy. But also the information to the leading driver, for example the updated alerts in order to disconnect the vehicles forming the convoy at the right time... 
(Photo - Convoy: Db Schenker & Man, trucks convoy "platooning") -- Essen, Germany - ActuTransport-Logistique.fr, by DIANE-ISABELLE LAUTRÉDOU - 20 June 2017

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Mar 14, 2017

TRUCKS PLATOONING * USA: Demonsgtration in California's Freeway

* California - Caltrans, Volvo test truck platooning on busy Los Angeles Freeway



--- The convoy of three Volvo semi-trucks zipping along Southern California’s busy 110 Freeway hauling cargo containers looked like other big rigs that ply that busy stretch of highway daily — except that they were only 50 feet apart and there were robots controlling the pedals in two of the vehicles... The journey Wednesday was a joint demonstration of truck platoon technology by the California Department of Transportation, local agencies, Volvo Group of North America and U.C. Berkeley... So-called platoon technology allows tightly contained, digitally connected packs of two to five trucks to drive in formation to reduce wind resistance and increase fuel efficiency. The pack can be controlled by a “captain” in the cab of the front vehicle, with the rest following with their own drivers or eventually, autonomously... In this test, a driver controlled the first truck while drivers in the second two sat back and let computers and sensors control the speed and separation of their vehicles... Engineers at Volvo and California PATH said that their platooning technology is an automated feature that can be disengaged. And since driver input is needed, platooning does not make the truck an autonomous vehicle... But if platooning does evolve to incorporate driverless trucking, companies may seize the opportunity to safely move more freight with fewer drivers, said James Hedlund, a safety consultant and former associate administrator at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration...
Los Angeles, CAL, USA - Trucks.com, by RYAN ZUMMALLEN - MARCH 8, 2017

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Jan 19, 2017

*PLATOON" TRUCKS * USA: SC allowed

* South Carolina - Bill advances to allow trucks to “Platoon”

--- A South Carolina House subcommittee unanimously passed a bill Tuesday afternoon to allow trucks to follow each other much closer than they’re allowed to now, a process known as “platooning.” The bill would apply only to trucks with new technology that links them to the trucks they’re following... The new technology includes cameras, radar, and lasers, as well as the ability to link trucks’ accelerators and brakes. That way, if the technology on the lead truck spots a problem ahead, all the trucks would slow down or brake without the drivers having to take action... Following closer improves fuel efficiency, with proponents saying the technology could save up to 8 billion gallons of diesel a year nationwide when fully implemented...
(Photo: Trucks-on-highway)  --  Columbia, SC, USA - wbtw/WSPA, by Robert Kittle - January 17, 2017

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