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

  • Scania leads European vehicle platooning research project
    December 12, 2013
    Scania will take the lead role in a three-year European research project to develop a system for implementing truck platooning on roads, which it is believed can significantly contribute towards reducing the carbon footprint of trucks. Through the European Companion research project, the partners will identify means of implementing the platooning concept in practice in daily transport operations. The project also includes Volkswagen Group Research, Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Technology, Oldenburger
    Read More
  • Venkat Sumantran: ‘Smart cities are more hype than reality’
    November 23, 2018
    For all the talk of smart cities, investment in systems lags significantly behind organic expansion in most places. Andrew Stone talks to Venkat Sumantran, who has been looking at how to create a coherent framework which could help authorities answer multiple mobility questions Two megatrends are posing unprecedented challenges to those trying to keep people moving around the world’s urban areas now - and in the years and decades to come. The first is rapid urbanisation. One in six of us lived in urban a
    Read More
  • Making roads safer with IRD’s TACS
    November 16, 2020
    Since IRD introduced its Tire Anomaly and Classification System (TACS) a few years ago, it has been widely adopted for tyre safety screening.
    Read More
  • Joint IBTTA and ITS conference focuses on environmental issues
    March 12, 2012
    In St Louis on 4-6 October, the IBTTA and ITS America will be co-sponsoring their first joint event, which is intended to address the burgeoning environmental issues affecting road transport infrastructures. Here, Steve Snider and Larry Yermack, the two chief meeting organisers, talk about the event and its aims
    Read More

Highlighted Content