Decarbonising road freight: Is truck automation and platooning an opportunity?

Abstract

Governments, industry and academia are paying high attention to autonomous vehicles and platooning, due to their high potential to transform public and private transport and reduce carbon emissions generated by road transport. The road freight sector is expected to be an early adopter of the autonomous technology due to the potential cost reduction for logistics companies. However, despite the expected fuel savings and polluting emission reductions due to truck platooning, actual benefits would strongly depend on the adopted technology and the operational conditions of the system. This paper investigates the potential for truck platooning to reduce carbon emissions from road freight, presenting a series of scenarios that vary by adoption rates, operational models and platoon size. Scenarios were co-designed with freight stakeholders to build a Truck Platooning Roadmap (2025–2050), considering a specific case study: the UK. Polluting emissions and related external costs are calculated across the different scenarios. Results show that there is high uncertainty for the adoption of truck platooning, with a potential first phase involving a small pool of low-automated trucks, and a second phase with a larger pool of high-automated trucks, reflecting higher economic and environmental benefits. A series of other technological and policy considerations are presented to support policymakers to draw a zero-carbon road freight strategy.Graphic abstract