Determination of the order of electronically coupled trucks on German motorways

One opportunity to manage the increase of freight transportation and to optimize utilization of motorway capacities is the concept of truck platoons. With the aid of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, trucks are electronically coupled keeping very short gaps (approx. 10 meters) to form truck platoons on motorways. This contributes to optimization of traffic flow and reduction of fuel consumption advantaged by slipstream driving. In this paper, a brief introduction into these truck platoons is given as well as a short overview about the elements of the automation-, information-and automotive-technology of the experimental trucks. The paper focuses on the determination of the order of the electronically coupled trucks, which is essential to organize and operate these platoons. The order is necessary for the communication between trucks in order to receive the correct information via vehicle-vehicle-communication. An algorithm for the determination of the order of vehicles on motorways based on GPS-data is derived, which finally has been applied on test drives.