Challenges to CV and AV Application in Truck Freight Operations

The freight industry is essential to the economic vitality of the United States. Trucks carry most of the tonnage and value of freight in the nation, and the American Trucking Associations (ATA) forecasts a 23.5% growth in truck freight tonnage by 2025. This projected growth will put tremendous stress on the road infrastructure and the trucking industry. Rapid development in connected and autonomous technology has the potential to help the nation meet the projected freight growth safely and efficiently. The trucking industry has historically been an early adopter of technology, and in May 2015, a major manufacturer introduced two trucks that can operate in autonomous mode using a combination of camera technology and radar with lane tracking, collision avoidance, speed control, braking, steering, and other monitoring systems that meet NHTSA's Level 3 autonomous vehicle definitions. These technologies need to be tested and assessed on public roads, but currently, only five jurisdictions - California, Nevada, Michigan, Florida, and the District of Columbia - allow their testing or operation. To facilitate the adoption and implementation of connected and autonomous freight vehicles, the regulatory, planning, policy, operational, technical, and commercial implications of these technologies need to be evaluated. The objectives of this research were to (1) identify and describe existing and emerging freight regulatory, planning, policy, and operational environments and challenges for connected and autonomous truck technologies; (2) identify public and private sector barriers to, and opportunities for implementation of these technologies in freight operations; and (3) propose next steps for addressing the challenges for deployment and adoption.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=3936
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This research report is available as NCHRP Web-Only Document 231.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $150000
• Contract Numbers:

  20-102(03)

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Performing Organizations:

  Booz Allen Hamilton

  ,    
• Principal Investigators:

  Fitzpatrick, David

• Start Date: 20151015
• Expected Completion Date: 20170131
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Autonomous vehicles; Connected vehicles; Operations; Policy; Regulations; Trucking
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Highways; Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management; Policy; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01781469
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: 20-102(03)
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Sep 8 2021 9:07PM