When the only people voting against a bill are yahoos like Lana Greenfield and Kaleb Weis, I should like it, right?
Come July 1, we may start seeing convoys of trucks cruising almost bumper to bumper down the highway. House Bill 1068, signed by Governor Kristi Noem on March 1, authorizes the Transportation Commission to make rules allowing “the testing and operation of groups of individual motor vehicles traveling in a unified manner at electronically coordinated speeds and distance intervals that are closer than otherwise allowed under §§ 32-26-40 to 32-26-42, inclusive.”
That means truck platooning, in which trucks in a convoy are controlled wirelessly by the lead truck. Instead of keeping 550 feet/160 meters between themselves, truckers will drive within a truck length of each other:
HB 1068 does not require Swedish drivers, but it would help. Most South Dakota drivers will fail that Intruder Test.
Actually, Peloton Technology, which is developing this semi-autonomous truck technology here in the U.S., shows this video demonstrating how platooning truck drivers will communicate to spot and accommodate intruders. Peloton’s Josh Switkes says driving more closely with this wireless coordination will increase safety and decrease costs. The process also won’t be a start-to-finish organized convoy of the same trucks; trucks equipped with platooning technology will be able to connect with partners they meet on the road:
The South Dakota Trucking Association (which Peloton recently joined) reprinted in its January newsletter these details from Peloton about how its testing and the potential benefits of truck platooning:
The company, which was started in 2013, is performing dosed-course and on-road operational testing of its PlatoonPro product. The company has begun operations in Texas working with manufacturers, suppliers and fleets. It has interest from some of the country’s largest and most recognizable fleets, which it will name during the first half of 2019. The first generation will pair two trucks at a time, but three-truck configurations could be deployable.
The North American Council for Freight Efficiency will assist Peloton with real world testing involving four trucks, two of which will be platooning at any one time. According to Mike Roeth, NACFE executive director, the tests involve fuel economy and other factors, such as the percent of time spent platooning and when the trucks disconnect.
Peloton says the trailing truck will enjoy 10 percent fuel savings, while the lead truck’s savings will be 4.5 percent, for an average overall savings of about 7 percent. Boyd said Peloton expects a one-year payback for each truck.
Roeth said TACFE estimates an average overall fuel economy savings of about 4 percent, or about S2,000 per truck per year, in real-world situations. That’s assuming a truck is in a platooning configuration 75 percent of the time running 110,000 miles per year and getting seven miles per gallon while burning fuel costing $3.50 a gallon. Upfront costs should be affordable because the trucks must already be equipped with automatic braking and advanced cruise control.
Peloton’s Boyd said the typical following distance in a platoon is 50-80 feet, with benefits found at distances of closer than 40- feet have been advantageous because of turbulence, he said [sic—sorry, but the last half of that sentence doesn’t make sense].
The company’s Network Operations Cloud approves each platoon, allowing them only in safe conditions. The system measures the weight of the trucks and assigns the heaviest truck to the front. It also can notify drivers of potential platooning opportunities based on locations and expected routes [Steve Brawner, “Platooning—Is It the Next Big Thing in Trucking?” South Dakota Trucking Association newsletter, January 2019, p. 11; reprinted from Nebraska Trucker, 2018].
Notice that HB 1068 doesn’t apply solely to trucks; under its language, the Transportation Commission could authorize any type of motor vehicle to platoon. What’s good for Mack may be good for your Cadillac:
Instead of cars driving as individual units on highways, automated driving systems (ADS) allow cars to connect and exchange information, enabling coordinated movements. That can mean more capacity on roads, and faster, more efficient travel.
In one study, a car platooning proof-of-concept with five Cadillacs with automated longitudinal control was tested and evaluated at Aberdeen Proving Ground, a U.S. Army test facility in Maryland.
…“By adding connectivity between cars, we can manage traffic with clusters of vehicles instead of individual vehicles,” said Wassim Najm, PhD, chief of Advanced Vehicle Technology at the Volpe Center. “With better traffic management, we can improve mobility.”
At the Aberdeen site, the test cars successfully shared information, such as whether they needed to speed up or slow down to follow the lead vehicle at a desired distance. Najm’s team piloted the technical and analytical work for testing and evaluating the car platooning proof-of-concept [Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, “How an Automated Car Platoon Works,” U.S. Department of Transportation, 2018.01.11].
Business interests would like to convert Highway 83 into an all-robot route for platooning trucks and other semi-automated vehicles. But properly written, the Transportation Committee’s new HB 1068 rules could let us cyclists join the platoon:
(Don’t forget: state law says we pedalers are motor vehicles, too!)
In House floor debate, rookie Rep. Kaleb Weis (see timestamp 1:51:00) said he really like truck platooning but was concerned that the Legislature was giving away its rule-making authority. He wanted to restrict the scope of HB 1068 to testing and strike “operation.” Prime sponsor Rep. Mary Duvall said Weis’s proposed restraining amendment was unnecessary; she said truck platooning has been tested like crazy in Europe and works great. She said any rules will have public hearings and will still have to be approved by the Legislature’s Rules Committee. Rookie Rep. Caleb Finck added that 22 states have already authorized truck platooning and reminded the body that the Legislature wasn’t giving away any power. “Let’s not stand in the way new technology and a new tool for our industries in South Dakota,” said Rep. Finck. The amendment failed, the HB 1068 passed 56–12, then went on to unanimous Senate approval.
So later this year, when you see two or three trucks riding bumper to bumper on I-29, they’re not tailgating; they’re cooperating!
We already have something even better than this “new technology” – called “trains”. They don’t even use up highway space. And better yet, they’re much more efficient.
Given that SD already allows two long trailers to be mechanically connected and operated as “Turnpike Doubles” on most major highways, this new law is already obsolete.
Ah, not really, Diana. There’s a big difference between mechanical connection and electronic connection.
Is this only for 4 lanes or more? Otherwise they’d be impossible to pass on 2 lane roads.
Could make for some spectacular pile-ups.
This will free our hands up in semis so we can text, eat and comb our hair with ease.
It’s about time!
(Sarcasm)
The statute leaves the two-lane/four-lane question to the rules-making process. But Debbo’s concern is valid; on a two-lane highway, even if the truckers are paying attention and widen their gap to allow a passer to duck in between them, I’m not sure a regular driver would be confident the truckers would so yield and would either not try to pass or would try to pass at a dangerous speed. That issue is worth discussing.
This is a ridulous, unsafe practice allowable to big rigs.
Our philosophy is the more electronics the more error.
The ag industry has no use for this in our area. I’m curious as to who backed this and who did government owe the favor to, to pass this.
What a waste a time when there are ag issues, nursing home closures, just to name a few in our state.