TRL has called for freight operators to help contribute to the UK’s first-ever UK platooning trial.
In 2017, the Department for Transport and Highways England commissioned the UK HGV Platooning Project – Helm UK. This project involves a series of platooning trials on UK roads, which will help gather objective evidence on both the safety implications and the real-world benefits of platooning for the UK.
TRL, who is the lead partner on the project, are undertaking some research to quantify the economic benefits of platooning for freight companies. As such, the company are looking to undertake some stakeholder engagement with UK Freight Operators to understand the likely adoption of platooning among fleet operators and the key opportunities and limitations of different platooning models.
TRL are looking to interview freight operators who operate HGVs with box or curtain side trailers and undertake a significant proportion of driving on motorways or primary A-roads, for example the A1 in North East England or A9 in Scotland.
Interviews will take up to 1 hour in duration and will start in September 2021. No prior knowledge or involvement in platooning is required ahead of the interview. TRL will be providing some background information on platooning to help you assess the viability of the technology for your specific freight operation.
By participating in this research, it will help contribute to the UK’s first ever platooning trial and will identify the economic implications for HGV companies to operate platoons. This insight is said to be essential to determine the business case for platooning and whether it can successfully be deployed on UK roads.
