Planning of Truck Platoons: A Literature Review and Directions for Future Research

Abstract

A truck platoon is a set of virtually linked trucks that drive closely behind one another using automated driving technology. Benefits of truck platooning include cost savings, reduced emissions, and more efficient use of road capacity. To fully reap these benefits in the initial phases of technology deployment, careful planning of platoons based on trucks' itineraries and time schedules is required. This paper provides a framework to classify various new transportation planning problems that arise in truck platooning, surveys relevant operations research models for these problems in the literature and identifies directions for future research.