Daimler Trucks On-highway Platooning Demonstration

March 24, 2016

Watch as Daimler Trucks' semi-autonomous platooning systems links three trucks on an active highway and they navigate midday truck and car traffic.

Jim Mele

Daimler Trucks' Highway Pilot Connect allows up to 10 trucks to link up as a platoon, running with just 15 meters between them in a semi-autonomous mode, meaning drivers can sit back with hands off the steering wheels as the system takes car of steering, throttle control and braking.

This live demonstration on an active German autobahn during the middle of a weekday shows how three trucks form into a platoon and how they react when another vehicle cuts between them or when the platoon changes lanes.

For more on the Highway Pilot Connect system and Daimler's vision for the connected truck.

About the Author

Jim Mele

Nationally recognized journalist, author and editor, Jim Mele joined Fleet Owner in 1986 with over a dozen years’ experience covering transportation as a newspaper reporter and magazine staff writer. Fleet Owner Magazine has won over 45 national editorial awards since his appointment as editor-in-chief in 1999.