Platoons of autonomous trucks took a road trip across Europe
Truck platooning can save fuel and lower vehicles' carbon emissions.
Six vehicle manufacturers just proved that self-driving trucks are perfectly capable of driving across a whole continent. These companies, including Volvo and Daimler, participated in the European Truck Platooning challenge organized by the Dutch government. "Truck platooning" is the term used when a fleet of autonomous trucks closely follow one another on the road. Since the rigs behind the first ride in its slipstream, they tend to use less fuel and emit less carbon dioxide.
The self-driving rigs started their journey from different parts of Europe and ended in the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Quartz notes that if this accomplishment convinces various government in the continent, then a number of corporations like Unilever will begin using autonomous trucks to pick up cargo from the port to distribute across Europe. If you keep an eye out for autonomous vehicle news, you might have already seen the video of Daimler testing its vehicle on public roads. But if you want to see more self-driving trucks on a road trip, you can watch a coverage of challenge below:
