Tractor Trailer Research Articles

Simulation Analysis of the Semi-Trailer Steered Wheels Control Algorithm

As part of improving road safety around trucks, a solution was proposed to reduce the swept path width of a moving tractor–semi-trailer. This article presents a mathematical analysis of the movement of a tractor unit with a traditional semi-trailer with fixed axles and steered wheels. A simulation analysis of both presented vehicles was carried out. The core of the algorithm controlling the steering angle of the semi-trailer wheels is presented. The influence of controlling the semi-trailer’s swivel wheels on the swept path width of a tractor–trailer with a semi-trailer equipped with swivel wheels is discussed. The assumptions for building the control algorithm are presented. The article presents the advantages of the solution used along with the control algorithm. Measurable benefits resulting from the use of the presented solution are presented, such as increasing cargo space, reducing cargo transport costs, and reducing aerodynamic resistance and fuel consumption. It is worth emphasizing that reducing fuel consumption is very important because it reduces the emission of harmful exhaust gases into the atmosphere. The swept path width is important especially in the case of vehicles moving in a limited area, for example in the parking lots of transhipment and logistics centers, between urban buildings. Vehicles admitted to traffic meet the minimum conditions imposed by homologation regulations, but reducing the swept path width allows for improving the operational properties of the tractor–semi-trailer. The use of the proposed control algorithm to control the turn of the semi-trailer’s steered wheels brings tangible benefits both in improving road safety and in reducing the emission of harmful substances into the environment.

Risk assessment of hydrogen leakage and explosion in a liquid hydrogen facility using computational analysis

In this study, the dispersion and explosion of liquid hydrogen (LH2) in leakage accidents are investigated using the Flame Accelerator Simulator (FLACS) code. The study focus was a liquid hydrogen research facility in Gimhae, South Korea. Simulations were conducted under various conditions by varying the mass flow rates (0.61 and 0.3 kg/s), directions (lateral in areas with minimal structures, lateral towards a tube trailer truck, and downward), and durations (90 and 180 s) of leakage. The results indicated that higher leakage mass flow rates produce a larger flammable cloud volume (FCV), resulting in higher maximum overpressures than that caused by lower flow rates. Downward leakage generally resulted in a larger FCV and higher overpressure than lateral leakage. The explosion characteristics were also influenced by geometry of LH2 facility, including the presence of structures in the leakage path. Contrastingly, leakage duration had a minimal effect on the maximum overpressure because an increased duration causes a greater dilution of hydrogen, only slightly expanding the FCV. According to the overpressure–impulse diagram, higher leakage flow rates cause severe health risks, approaching thresholds for lung rupture and 100% fatality. Contrary to the minor damages caused by lower leakage flow rates. High flow rates, particularly with downward leaks, can cause significant structural damage in brick buildings, potentially leading to partial demolition.

Assessment of whole-body vibration and development of mitigation intervention for single-axle tractor–trailer combination

IntroductionTractarization is synonymous with farm mechanization in India. Tractor-trailers are extensively used for the transportation of farm inputs and produce on and off-road, exposing drivers to excessive vibration.ObjectivesThe study was undertaken to assess tractor drivers’ vibration exposure while using trailers and to develop low-cost mitigation interventions.MethodologyThe whole-body vibrations were measured at the tractor seat during the transportation with a no, half (3715 kg soil) and full payload (5910 kg soil) trailer on two terrain conditions, namely, asphalt and farm terrains. The speeds recommended by ISO 5008-1979 of 10, 12 and 14 km/h on asphalt roads and 4, 5 and 7 km/h on farm roads, as well as actual working speeds preferred by the operator (18, 20 and 22 km/h on asphalt road and 8, 10 and 12 km/h on farm terrain), were selected for experiments. Two vibration reduction interventions, namely spring suspended single point hitch (I1) and polyurethane (PU) bush (I2), were developed and installed between the tractor and trailer. Whole-body vibration (WBV) was measured by repeating the experiments.ResultsThe maximum vibration reduction on asphalt road at 22 km/h with I1 was found as 14.3, 19.03 and 23.1%, whereas on-farm terrain at 12 km/h was found as 15.16, 22.43, and 25.56% for no, half and full payload. Similarly, with I1 + I2 interventions, the maximum total vibration reduction at 22 km/h was 16.86, 21.12 and 25.51% on asphalt roads, whereas on-farm tertian at 12 km/h was 17.07, 23.77 and 28.67%. The average value of lower health guidance caution zone (HGCZ) limits on asphalt roads increased by 1.11, 0.95 and 0.92 h and on-farm tertian 1.55, 1.14 and 0.83 h with no, half, and full payload. The average value of upper HGCZ limits on asphalt roads increased by 3.13, 3.21 and 3.68 h and on-farm tertian by 2.24, 2.94 and 3.31 h with intervention.ConclusionsThis infers that with developed interventions an operator can safely perform for a longer duration and at higher operational speeds because of the reduced vibration.

Wind tunnel investigation of hemispherical forebody interaction on the drag coefficient of a D-shaped model

PurposeAn experimental investigation of hemispherical forebody interaction effects on the drag coefficient of a D-shaped model is carried out for three-dimensional flow in the subcritical range of Reynolds number 1 × 105 ≤ Re ≤ 1.8 × 105. To study the interaction effect, hemispherical shapes of various sizes are attached to the upriver of the D-shaped bluff body model. The diameter of the hemisphere (b1) varied from 0.25 to 0.75 times the diameter of the D-shaped model (b2) and its gap from the D-shaped model (g/b2) ranged from 0.25 to 1.75 b2.Design/methodology/approachThe experiments were carried out in a low-speed open-circuit closed jet wind tunnel with test section dimensions of 1.2 × 0.9 × 1.8 m (W × H × L) capable of generating maximum velocity up to 45 m/s. The wind tunnel is equipped with a driving unit which has a 175-hp motor with three propellers controlled by a 160-kW inverter drive. Drag force is measured with an internal six-component balance with the help of the Spider 3013 E-pro data acquisition system.FindingsThe wind tunnel results show that the hemispherical forebody has a diameter ratio of 0.75 with a gap ratio of 0.25, resulting in a maximum drag reduction of 67%.Research limitations/implicationsThe turbulence intensity of the wind tunnel is about 5.6% at a velocity of 18 m/s. The uncertainty in the velocity and the drag coefficient measurement are about ±1.5 and ±2.83 %, respectively. The maximum error in the geometric model is about ±1.33 %.ractical implicationsThe results from the research work are helpful in choosing the optimum spacing of road vehicles, especially truck–trailer and launch vehicle applications.Social implicationsDrag reduction of road vehicle resulting less fuel consumption as well as less pollution to the environment. For instance, tractor trailer experiencing approximately 45% of aerodynamics drag is due to front part of the vehicle. The other contributors are 30% due to trailer base and 25% is due to under body flow. Nearly 65% of energy was spent to overcome the aerodynamic drag, when the vehicle is traveling at the average of 70 kmph (Seifert 2008 and Doyle 2008).Originality/valueThe benefits of placing the forebody in front of the main body will have a strong influence on reducing fuel consumption.

Integration of nonlinear observer and unscented Kalman filter for pose estimation in autonomous truck–trailer and container truck

Integration of nonlinear observer and unscented Kalman filter for pose estimation in autonomous truck–trailer and container truck

Experimentally detected aerodynamic drag coefficient of the agricultural tractor form considering effects of windshield angle and hood front shape

Agricultural tractors are improving their capacity, speed, and performance. However, the characteristic form of the agricultural tractors is not known in terms of aerodynamics. This is required in modeling transportational duties and their impacts on energy and environment, especially considering tractor-trailer couples. In this work, this characteristic form solely investigated apart from the couple to base a foundation. The geometry was adapted from a commercial model. The model was simplified greatly to isolate numerous parameters yielding a generic shape. Only geometrical features as parameters were selected as the nose shape as the leading surface and the windshield angle. Scaled models were tested in a wind tunnel. Drag coefficients independent from Reynolds number, drag forces, pressure distributions on the symmetry planes and pressure coefficients were obtained. An extrapolation was made in order to predict drag force related fuel consumption and CO2 emission for a full-scale tractor on-road transportation scenario based on experimentally obtained drag coefficient. It is understood that changes in tractor front surface topology and wind shield angle can lead to drag changes up to 3%. A 0.72 value of drag coefficient may be assumed for the generic agricultural tractor form. Based on this value, an on-road agricultural tractor cruising with 70 km h−1 is predicted to have a drag sourced fuel consumption of 3.9 kg h−1 and CO2 emission of 10.19 kg h−1. Tractor trailer couples and their platoons are of interest in terms of research and computational simulations that may utilize present results as validator.

Trajectory Re-Planning and Tracking Control for a Tractor–Trailer Mobile Robot Subject to Multiple Constraints

Autonomous tractor–trailer robots possess a broad spectrum of applications but pose significant challenges in control due to their nonlinear and underactuated dynamics. Unlike the tractor, the motion of the trailer cannot be directly actuated, which often results in a deviation from the intended path. In this study, we introduce a novel method for generating and following trajectories that circumvent obstacles, tailored for a tractor–trailer robotic system constrained by multiple factors. Firstly, leveraging the state information of both the obstacles and the desired trajectory, we formulate an improved trajectory for obstacle avoidance using the nonlinear least squares method. Subsequently, we propose an innovative tracking controller that integrates a universal barrier function with a state transformation strategy. This amalgamation facilitates the accurate tracking of the prescribed trajectory. Our theoretical analysis substantiates that the proposed control methodology ensures exponential convergence of the line-of-sight (LOS) distance and angle tracking errors, while enhancing the transient performance. To validate the efficacy of our approach, we present a series of simulation results, which demonstrate the applicability of the developed control strategy in managing the complex dynamics of tractor–trailer robots.

Reducing Distracted Driving and Improving Consistency with Brine Truck Automation

Salt brine is routinely used by transportation agencies to pre-treat critical infrastructure such as bridges, ramps, and underpasses in advance of winter storms. This requires an operator turning on and off brine controls while driving at highway speeds, introducing driver distraction and consistency challenges. In urban areas, such as Indianapolis, a 5500-gallon tractor trailer with a gross vehicle weight of 80,000 pounds is typically used and the driver may have 1200 on/off activations while covering 318 miles during a pre-treatment shift. This study conducted in collaboration with Indiana Department of Transportation has worked with their truck upfitters to adapt geo-fenced agriculture spraying controls to seven trucks that use the Global Positioning System (GPS) position of the truck to activate the sprayer valves when the trucks enter and exit geo-fenced areas that require pre-treatment. This automated brine system enhances safety, reduces driver workload, and ensures the consistent application of brine in designated areas. Furthermore, as additional environmental constraints and reporting requirements evolve, this system has the capability of reducing application rates in sensitive areas and provides a comprehensive geo-coded application history. The Indiana Department of Transportation has scaled deployment for treating interstates and major arterials with brine. This deployment on 5500-gallon tankers, used on I-64/65/69/70/74, and 465, eliminates over 10,000 driver distraction events during every statewide pre-treatment event.

Research on the rational aggregation of a transport tractor

The results of studying the resistance to traction of a tractor train consisting of models Belarus 80.1 tractor and two 2PТС-4-793 trailers, and how this resistance depends on the number of trailers, the load weight Gt , and the speed of movement are specified in the article. Obtained figures indicate that, while the weight of each trailer n remains constant, the force in tractor’s attachment increases as number of trailers increases. Conversely, the resistance coefficient f of support surface's slope angle α and the rolling resistance of the wheels decreases. For investigating the force at tractor trains Рtf on soil and gravel roads, it is recommended to use the slope angle 6° of support surface and rolling resistance coefficient values for the specific surface types gravel - f =0.03 and asphalt - f =0.018. At a speed of 35 km/h, maximum traction resistance force for tractor train with total mass of 15720 kg and four trailers reached 2592 N. Usage degree of calculated traction force in Belarus 80.1 tractor and four-loaded trailers of 2PТС-4-793 type train was 17%.

Power Requirement and Energy Consumption of Small Bale Recompression

Highlights Compression pressure has a nonlinear relationship with bale density. Increasing compression speed increased the energy, power, and specific energy required to recompress bales. The effect of speed on compression pressure and density was dependent on type of crop. Abstract. Biomass densification can reduce space needs during storage and transportation. It is important to quantify the amount of energy needed to densify biomass. Small bales (0.36 × 0.46 × 0.86 m) of herbaceous biomass crops, corn stover, indiangrass, switchgrass, and wheat straw, were recompressed in a compression chamber to determine their compression behavior in baled form. This chamber had the same cross-sectional area as a small baler. On average, the volume of all bales that were recompressed was reduced by 67.4%. Mean bale densities (d.b.) for corn stover, indiangrass, switchgrass, and wheat straw were increased from 94 to 264 kg m-3, 117 to 352 kg m-3, 139 to 384 kg m-3, and 98 to 277 kg m-3, respectively. The baled crops follow a nonlinear density vs. pressure relationship that can be accurately predicted using an exponential equation. When increasing loading or compression speed, the energy, power, and specific energy required to recompress the baled crops also increased. However, since each crop behaved differently during recompression, the effect of speed on compression pressure and density was dependent on the type of crop. At 60% reduction in bale volume and at the lowest compression speed (2.54 mm s-1), switchgrass required 15.6%, 61.7%, and 55.4% more energy than indiangrass, corn stover, and wheat straw, respectively. There were no significant differences in power required to compress different crops at the slowest speed (a = 0.05), but wheat straw required a lower specific energy of 0.725 kJ kg-1(d.b.) compared to between 0.734 and 0.814 kJ kg-1(d.b.) for the other crops. At the fastest compression speed (106.7 mm s-1), switchgrass required 32.4%, 59.4%, and 73.0% more energy, 12.9%, 20.5%, and 27.0% more power, and 15.7%, 5.4%, and 20.7% more specific energy than indiangrass, corn stover, and wheat straw, respectively. The purpose of this study was to determine the power requirement and energy consumption required to densify small bales of biomass crops using recompression to high enough densities to allow tractor trailers to be fully loaded to legal weight capacities within legal dimensions for highway transportation. Results from this study will be helpful when calculating energy balances related to biomass bale recompression for use as a feedstock in biofuel production and also for structural design and component selection for bale recompression machinery. Keywords: Bale, Biomass logistics, Bulk densification, Recompression.

Model Predictive Control Based Path Planner Design for On-road Autonomous Tractor Trailer Vehicles

Efficient path planning for on-road autonomous tractor trailer vehicles (ATTVs) is a complex task due to the intricate kinematics introduced by the articulated trailer. This technical paper introduces a novel Model Predictive Control (MPC) based lateral path planner designed to address the unique challenges of maneuvering ATTVs, particularly in environments that require navigation through narrow spaces and around multiple obstacles on well-structured roads. The authors have expertly developed a Cartesian kinematic model tailored for ATTVs and have innovatively applied the Frenet frame to better apply constraints in structured road environments. The efficacy of the proposed path planner is confirmed through real-time testing on actual roadways, showcasing its practical application and the advantages it offers over existing methods.

Mechanization and import substitution in zimbabwean farmers' equipment: A case study of the revitalization of an abandoned tractor trailer

Abandonment of equipment on Zimbabwean A1 and A2 farms has significant costs for both farmers and the national economy, as farmers often continue using outdated or traditional farming methods. Maintenance practices, innovation, research, design, and modern machinery have evolved considerably over the past hundred years, shifting from old maintenance applications to planned maintenance strategies combined with Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI). For Zimbabwean farmers, adopting this approach is crucial, particularly for revitalizing farm implements and machinery. Currently, it is evident that many farm implements and equipment have been abandoned. These implements and equipment could be assessed and mechanically restored to their operational state. A mechanical assessment of abandoned equipment was conducted, focusing on main components such as the chassis and suspension to facilitate the revitalization process. This was followed by a product development plan outlined in the methodology. The abandoned trailer was dismantled, with selected components purchased locally, and then reassembled using mechanical methods. The mechanical activities involved included cutting with grinders, joining through arc welding, and using bolts and nuts. As a developing country striving to adopt modern technologies, Zimbabwe's application of Import Substitution Industrialization is a crucial strategy for embracing sustainable development. Farmers are advised to integrate basic welding knowledge into their farming activities and acquire essential machinery, such as CO2 welding machines and workbenches, for their mechanical workshops. Large-scale farmers in Zimbabwe typically have workshops equipped with these basic machining tools. The abandoned trailer was reconditioned to a functional state using basic machining methods and tools, as detailed in this paper.

Localization and Motion Planning of Industrial Tractor–Trailers Vehicles

This brief presents real-time configuration estimation and motion planning for the industrial tractor–trailers vehicle composed of a full-scale car-like tractor and multiple full trailers. For the real-life vehicle, determining the configuration is challenging. With only on-tractor sensors, we solve this problem by fusing information from system dynamics propagation, geometrical constraints among the articulated units, and matching with the prebuilt environment map. The solution is efficiently achieved by formulating and solving a maximum a posterior (MAP) estimation problem in the pose-graph optimization framework. With the complicated tractor–trailers’ structure, small mismatch between actual and planned trajectories is crucial to inherit obstacle-free guarantee from planning to execution. We consider the dynamics and focus on facilitating the reduction of the mismatch by proposing a controller-based smoothing method to perform online motion planning. The given waypoint path is smoothed by forward propagation using a deliberately designed controller to generate the trajectory. The efficiently computed trajectories are also obstacle-free and dynamically feasible. The controller is also applied in execution to precisely reproduce the planned system evolvement. We demonstrate the performance with the real-life industrial tractor–trailers’ vehicle.

Spatio-Temporal Assessment of Heavy-Duty Truck Incident and Inspection Data

Vehicular incidents, especially those involving tractor trailers, are increasing in number every year. These events are extremely costly for fleets, in terms of damage or loss of property, loss of efficiency, and certainly in terms of loss of life. Although the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is responsible for performing inspections, and fleet managers are encouraged to maintain their fleet and participate in regular inspections, it is uncertain whether these inspections are occurring at a frequency that is necessary to prevent incidents. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) of the DOT manages and maintains the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) dataset, which contains all incident and inspection data regarding commercial vehicles in the U.S. The purpose of this preliminary analysis was to explore the MCMIS dataset through spatiotemporal analyses, to uncover findings that may hint at potential improvements in the DOT inspection process and highlight location-specific trends in the dataset. These analyses are novel, as previous research using the MCMIS dataset only examined the data at the state or county level, not at a national scale. The results from the analyses pinpointed specific major metropolitan areas, namely Harris County (Houston), Texas, and three of the New York boroughs (Kings, Queens, and the Bronx), which were found to have increasing incident rates during the study period (2016–2020). An overview of potential causal factors contributing to this increase are provided as well as an overview of the inspection process, and suggestions for improvement relative to the highlighted locations in Texas and New York are also provided. Ultimately, it is suggested that the incorporation of advanced technology and automation may prove beneficial in reducing the occurrence of events that lead to incidents and may also help in the inspection process.

Modelling and Control Methods in Path Tracking Control for Autonomous Agricultural Vehicles: A Review of State of the Art and Challenges

This paper provides a review of path-tracking strategies used in autonomous agricultural vehicles, mainly from two aspects: vehicle model construction and the development and improvement of path-tracking algorithms. Vehicle models are grouped into numerous types based on the structural characteristics and working conditions, including wheeled tractors, tracked tractors, rice transplanters, high clearance sprays, agricultural robots, agricultural tractor–trailers, etc. The application and improvement of path-tracking control methods are summarized based on the different working scenes and types of agricultural machinery. This study explores each of these methods in terms of accuracy, stability, robustness, and disadvantages/advantages. The main challenges in the field of agricultural vehicle path tracking control are defined, and future research directions are offered based on critical reviews. This review aims to provide a reference for determining which controllers to use in path-tracking control development for an autonomous agricultural vehicle.

Trailer allocation and truck routing using bipartite graph assignment and deep reinforcement learning

AbstractTrailer allocation and truck routing are critical components of truck transportation management. However, in real‐world applications, inter‐influence between selecting the best trailers and trucks, strict fulfillment of Pickup or Delivery (PD) orders, and the size of the fleet are some of the challenges that need to be dealt with in a large truck company. In addition, trailer allocation and truck routing problems are considered to be NP‐hard combinatorial optimization (CO) problems. Therefore, we use deep reinforcement learning (DRL), which has the capability of solving routing problems with a single set of hyperparameters. This is significant progress toward finding strong heuristics for a special case of the trailer allocation to customers and truck routing problem presented in this article. Given a set of trailers, trucks, customers, and orders we propose a novel two‐phase framework based on Bipartite Graph Assignment (BGA) and attention‐based DRL to minimize the total traveling distance traveled from trucks to trailers and then to customers. The BGA heuristic finds the minimum traveling distance from the trailers to the customers based on the edge information and the encoder‐decoder helps DRL to get useful node and graph feature representations and trains the model to find the proper solutions for the trailer allocation and truck routing problem. Our experiments on three different problem sizes showcase the effectiveness of ARTT‐DRL. The results indicate that ARTT‐DRL produces desirable outcomes and has strong generalization capabilities.

Battery Electric Tractor Powertrain Component Sizing With Respect To Energy Consumption, Driving Patterns and Performance Evaluation Using Traction Motor

In this paper sizing the powertrain of battery electric tractor (BET) including major farming implements are investigated for various real world driving patterns. Powertrain components are modelled using torque-load characteristics which are function of speed, acceleration, plowing implement and depth of plowing and texture of the soil. Effect of load variations on powertrain performance and energy consumption are also explained in detail. In this powertrain design major farming implements like chisel plough, mould board plough, field cultivator, sweep plough are considered. Tractor hauling a trailer carrying goods with 2000 kg weight is also considered for powertrain design. Typical operating velocities of 18, 15 and 25 kmph are taken for sand, tillage and asphalt surfaces respectively for tractor trailer applications and 7 kmph for plowing applications. The dynamic model of the powertrain is modelled in MATLAB/SIMULINK. PMSM is selected as a traction motor and its performance is evaluated in MATLAB/SIMULINK. Same has been verified using real-time Hardware in loop (HIL) simulator with help of OPAL-RT (OP5700).

Adaptive Constrained Formation-Tracking Control for a Tractor-Trailer Mobile Robot Team With Multiple Constraints

A team of multiple tractor–trailer mobile robots has many applications in areas including agriculture, logistics, transportation, etc. In this article, we propose a novel adaptive constrained formation-tracking control algorithm for the trailers in a tractor–trailer mobile robot team to track a desired formation, while satisfying multiple <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">precision</i> , <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">safety</i> , and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">feasibility</i> constraint requirements during the operation. Both universal barrier function approaches and a novel state transformation scheme are incorporated to deal with constraints of different nature. Adaptive estimators are introduced to estimate the rate of change of the desired trajectories for all trailers. We show that exponential convergence to a small neighborhood of the equilibrium can be guaranteed. In the end, a MATLAB simulation example and a Gazebo simulator study further demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm.

Экономика сельскохозяйственного транспорта

Abstract. The purpose of the study is assess the performance of a variety of different types of vehicles used in agricultural production. Methods. An interpretation of the technical and economic indicators characterizing agricultural transport is proposed, the features of determining the productivity of a tractor transport unit, the cost of one transported ton are considered. Probability theory was used to determine the indicators “Load waiting time”, “Vehicle loading time”. The conditions of operation of vehicles as part of harvesting and transport complexes are considered. Results. Based on the field research, when harvesting corn for silage, the economic efficiency of the use of vehicles was determined. A comparative analysis was carried out using cars and tractor transport units. As a result of the research, it was revealed that for energy-saturated tractors, with tractor trailers corresponding to them in traction properties, the productivity is higher than for MTZ-82 tractors with trailers PST-9 and 2PTS-6 by 2.1–2.3 times than for KamAZ-5511 vehicles by 1.9 times. At the same time, unit costs are lower by 10–-13 % and 5.7 %, respectively. It is recommended that agricultural organizations harvesting fodder crops ensure the optimal ratio of forage harvesters and vehicles; if possible, when transporting green mass, use energy-saturated tractors with appropriate tractor trailers and heavy trucks with trailers. The scientific novelty consists in clarifying and supplementing such technical and economic indicators that characterize the operation of vehicles in agriculture, such as Coefficient of use of working time, Coefficient of use of load capacity, etc. Mathematical dependencies are proposed to calculate these indicators and assess their impact on transport economics.

Экономика сельскохозяйственного транспорта

Abstract. The purpose of the study is assess the performance of a variety of different types of vehicles used in agricultural production. Methods. An interpretation of the technical and economic indicators characterizing agricultural transport is proposed, the features of determining the productivity of a tractor transport unit, the cost of one transported ton are considered. Probability theory was used to determine the indicators “Load waiting time”, “Vehicle loading time”. The conditions of operation of vehicles as part of harvesting and transport complexes are considered. Results. Based on the field research, when harvesting corn for silage, the economic efficiency of the use of vehicles was determined. A comparative analysis was carried out using cars and tractor transport units. As a result of the research, it was revealed that for energy-saturated tractors, with tractor trailers corresponding to them in traction properties, the productivity is higher than for MTZ-82 tractors with trailers PST-9 and 2PTS-6 by 2.1–2.3 times than for KamAZ-5511 vehicles by 1.9 times. At the same time, unit costs are lower by 10–-13 % and 5.7 %, respectively. It is recommended that agricultural organizations harvesting fodder crops ensure the optimal ratio of forage harvesters and vehicles; if possible, when transporting green mass, use energy-saturated tractors with appropriate tractor trailers and heavy trucks with trailers. The scientific novelty consists in clarifying and supplementing such technical and economic indicators that characterize the operation of vehicles in agriculture, such as Coefficient of use of working time, Coefficient of use of load capacity, etc. Mathematical dependencies are proposed to calculate these indicators and assess their impact on transport economics.