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Omnitracs Partners With Peloton To Offer Truck Platooning Tech

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Fleet management services provider Omnitracs announced today that it will partner with start-up Peloton to offer semi truck platooning technology.

Company leaders say that the new platooning technology will allow Omnitracs customers to create small truck “convoys” in order to cut down on fuel costs. Here’s how they say it will work:

“Peloton will begin filling pre-orders of its flagship platooning product for Class 8 trucks in 2017. The technology synchronizes braking and acceleration between pairs of trucks through the integration of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications with state-of-the-art, radar-based collision avoidance systems, enabling the trucks to travel safely at aerodynamic following distances. The Peloton system generates 4.5 percent fuel savings for the lead truck and 10 percent for the follow truck in a two-truck platoon, according to independent testing by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency.”

The driver of the lead truck will set the pace and be in charge of steering. The driver of the follow truck will only be in charge of steering as the platooning system will be in charge of controlling speed and following distance.

The platooning technology also includes an automatic braking system that will engage the brakes of the follow truck within 0.1 seconds after the lead truck brakes.

The technology is cloud-based and connects trucks through both cellular signals and WiFi. Company leaders say that “leading-edge cybersecurity” is also part of the platooning package.

Sources:
NBC 2
Yahoo Finance
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