7 Slides: Daimler unveils connected truck

Daimler says its new connected truck technology can potentially allow up to 10 different commercial vehicles to form a platoon.

More than 300 people from 36 countries attended Daimler's "Campus Connectivity" event in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Daimler says its has already deployed some 365,000 connected commercial vehicles  around the world and will have invested "half a billion Euros" by 2020 in this connect truck technology.

Starting in the IAA (International Commercial Vehicle Show) year 2016, Daimler Trucks will continuously add new service packages to its already extensive telematics services, and also make its platforms accessible to third parties.

The completely connected truck initiates a radical change in transport which will make road goods traffic even more effective and efficient – not only for drivers, haulers and vehicle manufacturers, but also for society as a whole, says Daimler.

Daimler showed how three WiFi-connected, autonomously driving trucks operated on the autobahn via a so-called platoon at its "Campus Connectivity" event. Such platoons can reduce fuel consumption by up to 7% and the road space requirement on motorways by almost half, Daimler noted, while improving traffic safety at the same time.

Based on the Daimler Trucks Highway Pilot system for autonomously driving heavy trucks, the three trucks link up to form an aerodynamically optimized, fully automated platoon. Daimler Trucks calls this advanced system development Highway Pilot Connect.