Performance Analysis of Cooperative Truck Platooning under Commercial Operation during Canadian Winter Season

Abstract

<div>The cooperative platoon of multiple trucks with definite proximity has the potential to enhance traffic safety, improve roadway capacity, and reduce fuel consumption of the platoon. To investigate the truck platooning performance in a real-world environment, two Peterbilt class-8 trucks equipped with cooperative truck platooning systems (CTPS) were deployed to conduct the first-of-its-kind on-road commercial trial in Canada. A total of 41 CTPS trips were carried out on Alberta Highway 2 between Calgary and Edmonton during the winter season in 2022, 25 of which were platooning trips with 3 to 5 sec time gaps. The platooning trips were performed at ambient temperatures from −24 to 8°C, and the total truck weights ranged from 16 to 39 tons. The experimental results show that the average time gap error was 0.8 sec for all the platooning trips, and the trips with the commanded time gap of 5 sec generally had the highest variations. The average number of disengagements increased when the time gap rose from 3 to 5 sec, and the average engagement distance of all platooning trips was 1.92 km. In the review of the platooning effect on the powertrain system, it was observed that fluctuations in the follower truck’s engine power were generally larger compared to those of the lead truck. Furthermore, when trucks performed platooning on the flat road segments, the follower truck saved fuel; however, on the road segments with grade changes, the freight transportation specific fuel consumption (kg/(ton·100 km)) of the follower truck increased. Moreover, the freight transportation specific fuel consumption of the follower truck was 25.8% more than that of the lead truck when cut-ins and cut-outs occurred. Test results show that the frequency of cut-ins increased from 1.6 to 5 times per hour when time gap increased from 3 to 5 sec. Overall, beyond successful and safe commercial truck platooning operations during the cold winter season, no substantial benefit of fuel saving was observed in the investigated platform.</div>