Most of the attention devoted to trucks within the world of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) has been focused on very near-term considerations of using electronics to facilitate border clearances, administrative processes, toll collection and fleet management. In addition, there have been some applications of Advanced Vehicle Control and Safety System (AVCSS) technologies to trucks for safety warnings (forward collision, road departure) and adaptive cruise control. However, there is a potential for trucking operations to gain substantially more dramatic benefits from use of vehicle automation technology to provide fully automated driving capabilities. The benefits of truck automation can be considered in three primary clusters: (1) benefits of separate truck lanes, (2) benefits in terms of vehicle operating economics (including fuel and emissions savings), (3) benefits associated with the truck drivers. The nature of the specific benefits and their monetary values can differ significantly from country to country based on differences in driving conditions, freight movement logistics and truck designs, so quantitative findings that apply in one country are not necessarily directly transferable to another.
Abstract