Autonomous driving has been promising us for years a future of driverless vehicles, optimized routes, and more efficient and safe transportation. While we're already seeing progress in some sectors, such as driverless taxis in certain cities or private cars with autopilot functions, the world of trucking—especially trucking—is a very different challenge.
A truck is not a car, and putting a 40-ton truck on a highway without a driver is a technical, legal, and social challenge. Aurora, one of the most advanced companies in this field, is already testing autonomous trucks between Dallas and Houston. But even they acknowledge that expanding this system to other states will take years. Permits are complicated, regulations are strict, and testing must be exhaustive. For now, full autonomy in large-scale freight transport remains a distant goal.
However, while we wait for the technology to be ready—and for the authorities to be ready—interesting ideas are emerging that propose more practical short-term solutions. A good example is the pilot project being carried out with the support of the Departments of Transportation of the states of Ohio and Indiana.
The idea? Two trucks traveling together, connected by radio, but with a single human driver. The first truck is driven by a person, as usual. But the second, traveling just behind, about 30 meters away, automatically follows the movements of the first: it accelerates, brakes, and turns in sync. It is, in essence, a truck that "imitates" the other in real time.
In the initial tests, the second truck still has a person inside for safety reasons, but the goal is to be able to drive empty in the future. Or rather, driverless. This approach, more modest than fully autonomous driving, has several clear advantages.
Military technology at the service of civilian transportation. The project is led by Kratos Defense, a company specializing in military technology and secure communications. This is no small detail. In this type of synchronized driving, the key lies in communication between vehicles. Therefore, Kratos has developed a radio system with two redundant frequency channels to ensure that, no matter what happens, the second truck always receives orders from the first. It's a robust technology designed to be fault-free.
One of the great attractions of this system is the savings in human resources. At a time when professional drivers are scarce in many countries, being able to move two trucks with a single person can make a huge difference for logistics companies. Furthermore, in the tests conducted so far, an interesting fact has been observed: the second truck consumes up to 10% less fuel when driving behind the first, taking advantage of aerodynamics and reducing air resistance.
For a fleet of dozens or hundreds of trucks, this saving can translate into very significant figures. Lower consumption means lower emissions and also less expense, which fits perfectly with current trends in sustainability and efficiency.
What makes this project especially attractive is that it doesn't require reinventing the wheel. It can be applied to existing trucks, with some modifications to control and communication systems. There's no need to wait for complex artificial intelligence systems or laws allowing fully autonomous vehicles to be approved. This solution is realistic, scalable, and can be implemented much sooner.
In the video published by the company itself https://youtu.be/9t-J6ephRcE
, you can see how the system works in practice, and how the two trucks move synchronously. This isn't science fiction; it's technology in progress.
Sometimes, big changes don't come from a disruptive leap, but from intelligent intermediate steps. This interconnected truck system is a perfect example of how we can pragmatically move into the future. We don't have to wait for everything to be autonomous to start improving.
We'll have to closely monitor the evolution of these types of projects. But if one thing is clear, it's that while fully autonomous driving is still in development, there are innovative solutions that can already make a difference today.
And perhaps, in a few years, we'll look back and realize that it all started with two trucks, one driver... and a good idea.
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