Truck caravan rolls to Rotterdam – Südwestpresse

Stuttgart

The term the truck snake gets a new meaning: In the course of the development of autonomous trucks Daimler can drive these networked. A test column is on its way to Rotterdam. MAN continues with

.

A caravan of a special kind, the Stuttgart carmaker Daimler sent on its way to Rotterdam yesterday. Three trucks of the type Mercedes Benz Actros made from from headquarters on the way to the Netherlands. They participate in a cross-border initiative of the Netherlands, called “European Truck platooning Challenge 2016″. It is a large-scale field trial for trucks, which are summarized by means of digital data transmission to trains, ie to “platoon”. The driver in the first vehicle of the column are speed and direction.

“We see platooning as meaningful component of the integrated approach in which all contribute to the road haulage operators for CO2 and fuel reduction,” commented the yesterday Wolfgang Bernhard who is responsible within the Daimler Board of Management of Daimler Trucks. The route takes the caravan on the highway from Stuttgart via Heilbronn, then continue on the A61 and the A67 by Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia to the border town of Venlo. In the port of Rotterdam, the truck will then arrive on April 6.

According to the Daimler platooning brings several advantages. The crosslinked trucks require only 15 instead of 50 meters distance. This they drive by mutual slipstream which decreases air resistance and with it fuel consumption. The latter, by around 10 percent. In addition, the networking, the length of the composite significantly shortened: The electronically coupled together lorries along 80 meters long instead of 150 meters at normal succession. In terms of safety platooning has to offer advantages, it is at Daimler. “While the man at the wheel has a response time of 1.4 seconds, the Highway Pilot Connect is the braking signals in less than 0.1 second to subsequent vehicles further.” This can help to prevent rear-end collisions, for example, in traffic jams. However, even if the images of the caravan, which show a truck driver with behind head arms crossed, otherwise indicate: “In all the technical possibilities of networked driving always the driver remains responsible for monitoring all the assistance systems,” emphasizes the Stuttgart carmaker <. / p>

that Daimler at this networking technology, and at all the autonomous driving, at least when the truck has its nose in front, the Stuttgart is also very important: “Daimler Trucks is the only manufacturer worldwide with autonomous moving truck street legal.”

This keeps the competition, however, does not depend on use similar technology and also take part in the rally to Rotterdam. Yesterday reported the two VW subsidiaries MAN and Scania, that they have their Platoons, that sent its truck columns

Scania has since March 29, the go -. With three vehicles from Södertälje, Sweden via the Øresund Bridge Denmark, via Germany and Belgium to the Netherlands. MAN yesterday arose from Munich. Goal for both:. Arrival in Rotterdam – on time on April 6