Federal Highway Administration showcases truck platooning technology

The US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has conducted the first of a two-day demonstration of three-truck platoons on I-66 in Virginia. The results of a four-year research project to test the effectiveness of state-of-the-art driving and communications technologies were showcased at the event. Truck platooning uses vehicle-to-vehicle communications technology to allow trucks to follow each other more closely – at about one second apart – and travel in a more coordinated fashion.
September 15, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has conducted the first of a two-day demonstration of three-truck platoons on I-66 in Virginia. The results of a four-year research project to test the effectiveness of state-of-the-art driving and communications technologies were showcased at the event.


Truck platooning uses vehicle-to-vehicle communications technology to allow trucks to follow each other more closely – at about one second apart – and travel in a more coordinated fashion.

While various aspects of truck platooning have been studied for years, FHWA’s Exploratory Advance Research program has taken testing to new levels with the addition of cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) technology, which adds vehicle-to-vehicle communications to the adaptive cruise control capability now available in new vehicles. This connectivity allows trucks to operate more smoothly as a unit, reducing and controlling the gaps between vehicles.

The demonstration involved partially automated trucks – which are not driverless, and used professional drivers. The advanced technology that makes platooning possible is meant to supplement, not replace, the nation’s commercial motor vehicle operators.

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • Tollers make way as NextNav muscles into 902-928MHz spectrum
    July 30, 2013
    Toll operators and Progeny trade claim and counter claim about the potential ramifications of operating in the 902-928MHz spectrum, as Jon Masters finds out. Two months after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) determined that Progeny can start commercial operation of its NextNav location finding service, the dust has begun to settle. The tolling industry has had a chance to reflect on how this may impact its operations, in the knowledge that NextNav will share the 902-928MHz frequency band with RFI
    Read More
  • ‘Free’ power for signs, shelters and so much more
    March 17, 2016
    David Crawford looks at the sunny side of the street. Solar power has been relatively slow in entering the transport sector, but a current blossoming of activity bodes well for the large-scale harnessing of an alternative energy that is zero-emission at source and, in practical terms, infinitely renewable. Traffic management and traveller information systems, and actual vehicles, are all emerging as areas for deployment. Meanwhile roads themselves are being viewed as new-style, fossil fuel-free ‘power stati
    Read More
  • USDOT launches EAR workshop on vehicle noise
    August 2, 2013
    The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is to convene a two-day n Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) Program workshop on the use of vehicle noise for roadway, bridge, and infrastructure monitoring. To be held at FHWA's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Virginia from 12:30 pm on 20n August to 12:30 pm on 21 August 2013, the workshop will provide participants from academia, the private sector, and government with an opportunity to discuss recent research and methodologies for measuring int
    Read More
  • USDOT releases new publications
    October 17, 2016
    The USDOT has released new reports highlighting its latest research initiatives and findings related to intelligent transportation systems (ITS). These include Coordination of Mobile Devices: Technology and Standards Scan (FHWA-JPO-15-224), which presents the technology scan and standards assessment performed for the USDOT project on utilising mobile devices in connected vehicle applications. The report provides an overview of relevant communication and connected vehicle technology, and identifies the mo
    Read More

Highlighted Content