The beginning of the end of trucking as we know it: A semi-autonomous two truck convoy in Nevada demonstrates how trucks traveling closely together saves substantial amounts of money on fuel. Convoys like this will soon become common. They may even be completely autonomous soon.
Nevada recently proved that uncomfortably close convoys can save drivers fuel and money. The key, instead of bold Olympic athleticism, is robotic assistance. A computer-assisted truck was able to follow closely behind a human-driven truck perfectly, maintaining exactly 33 feet of distance between the vehicles. The promise is a future of safer, more fuel efficient, and more robotic trucking.
The system tested is only partially automated, with a driver in the computer-assisted truck still responsible for steering.