Platooning specialist to offer services to fleet managers
Peloton Technology, the American IT firm involved in Western Australia’s platooning trial, has linked with US fleet management, routing, and predictive analytics solutions company Omnitracs.
Omnitracs, which has supplied telematics products to Iveco, says the collaboration will see it bring Peloton’s truck platooning technology to Omnitracs customers.
“Peloton will begin filling pre-orders of its flagship platooning product for Class 8 [heavy] trucks in 2017,” the companies say.
“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 per cent fuel savings for the lead truck and 10 per cent for the follow truck in a two-truck platoon, according to independent testing by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency.”
Under Peloton’s system, platoons are managed continuously by a cloud-based network operations center that connects to trucks through cellular and Wi-Fi communications.
Cloud-based supervision limits operation of platoons to specified roads in safe driving conditions.
“Peloton has developed technology that is on the cutting edge of advanced driver assistance systems and the automated vehicle movement,” Omnitracs CEO John Graham says.
“Its emphasis on spatial awareness is a crucial and foundational component of improving truck safety and fuel efficiency.”
For Omnitracs, Peloton is to help to roll out practical, cost-saving automated vehicle technology featuring advanced cybersecurity to Omnitracs customers, beginning with two-truck platooning.
Omnitracs has a large customer base in US long-haul trucking.
“We are excited to be part of the first partnership of a commercial platooning system supplier with a leading fleet management provider,” Peloton founder and CEO Joshua Switkes says.
“We will offer expanded opportunities for platooning across the broad customer base that Omnitracs has attracted by focusing on cost advantages for fleets.”
The partners say a key operational benefit to be spruiked to fleet customers will be optimized matching opportunities for inter-fleet platooning, leveraging Omnitracs’ routing and dynamic dispatch applications to provide navigation assistance and clear savings calculations for scheduled and ad-hoc platoons of trucks from different fleets.
“This partnership will offer benefits to fleets of all sizes,” Butch Winters, Peloton’s VP of products, sales and business development, says.
“In addition to helping fleets find more opportunities for platooning, we’re working with Omnitracs on new product features to enhance safety and efficiency for fleets and drivers.”
Co-developed solutions from the partnership may include integrated cloud-based fleet management services and hardware.